US President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to impose additional tariffs on Canada, blaming Ottawa for failing to manage its forests after wildfire smoke from hundreds of Canadian blazes drifted into the United States and degraded air quality in many cities. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the United States would hold Canada responsible for what he called “filthy, polluted, and unhealthy air” and warned that the economic cost of the pollution would be added to existing U.S. tariffs on Canadian imports.
Trump said he would call Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to demand an explanation and to ask what Canada planned to do about the fires and the smoke, calling the financial toll “incalculable.” He accused Canada of “willful negligence” over forest management and debris removal and claimed recurring smoke had caused billions of dollars in U.S. losses, saying the cost “must of necessity be added to the TARIFFS Canada is currently paying.”
The warning came as smoke from nearly 850 active wildfires in Canada — including more than 180 in Ontario, NASA reported — spread across more than 20 U.S. states from the Upper Midwest to the Northeast. The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre said about 888 wildfires were burning on Friday, most listed as out of control, with more than 190 in Ontario. Air quality alerts were issued for states including Minnesota, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York; IQAir reported Detroit had the world’s worst air quality on Friday, followed by Chicago, Washington, D.C., and New York.
The tariff threat followed pressure from Republican lawmakers who accused Canada of inaction. In a letter to Canadian officials, Representatives John James, John Moolenaar, Jack Bergman and Lisa McClain wrote, “We are done accepting apologies in place of action,” adding that “American lungs are paying the price for Canadian inaction, year after year.”
Canadian officials had not publicly responded to Trump’s latest warning. Earlier, Prime Minister Mark Carney said both countries share responsibility for addressing climate change, while Ontario Premier Doug Ford urged the U.S. to send additional firefighting support instead of criticism.
Scientists cautioned that smoke transport is driven largely by weather, not borders. Dr. Patrick James of the University of Toronto said, “Weather doesn’t care about international borders,” and experts noted many fires are burning in remote forests where detection and containment are difficult; while local forest management can reduce risk near communities, it cannot prevent large-scale fires across vast ecosystems. The dispute underscores growing tensions at the intersection of climate-driven disasters and cross-border trade and diplomacy.
Original Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/trump-threatens-new-tariffs-on-canada-over-wildfire-smoke-affecting-us-cities/articleshow/132472234.cms
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Publish Date: 2026-07-18 06:01:00
