Donald Trump threatens EU to cut off trade following rapprochement with Canada

Donald Trump threatened on Wednesday to cut off trade with the EU in reaction to his plan to make Canada the first associate member country of the European Union. Against a backdrop of disenchantment with the United States, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen proposed on Wednesday that Canada could become the first “associate member” country of the EU, in the presence of Prime Minister Mark Carney, who will speak this Thursday to MEPs. She also proposed that this North American country join the future “European Security Council”, which she calls for.

“I find it ridiculous,” the US president told reporters when asked about the proposal. “If they do this, if I consider it a hostile act, I will impose very heavy customs duties or I will cease all trade with Europe,” he added. Canada, in the middle of a trade war with Donald Trump's United States, is looking for new partners. For its part, Europe, whose relations with Washington are just as stormy, is looking for support for its strategy of rebalancing between the two superpowers, China and the United States.

“We see the world with the same eyes: from AI to climate change, from the Arctic to geopolitics,” underlined Ms. von der Leyen, calling on Ottawa and Brussels to “build” a “common future”. “In a more dangerous and divided world, Canada is building closer relationships with trusted partners,” Mr. Carney’s office noted in a press release.

The associate member status mentioned for Canada is not legally defined by the EU treaties. But Germany recently proposed that Ukraine benefit from it. Berlin then suggested that this country could attend certain ministerial meetings or EU summits, without having the right to vote. After speaking with Ms. von der Leyen, Mr. Carney traveled to the United Kingdom, where he met the new British Prime Minister, Andy Burnham. The two men reaffirmed their desire to “cooperate on defense and trade”.

Concretely, Canada and the EU above all intend to strengthen their partnership, from artificial intelligence to energy. Tossed around by American customs duties and competition from China, Brussels and Ottawa are seeking to capitalize on an already considerable level of cooperation. Trade between the EU and Canada has jumped 80% since 2016, thanks to the entry into force of a free trade agreement, which removed almost all customs duties. And, this year, Canada became the first non-EU country to join the European Safe defense program.

However, there remains room for improvement. The two parties will examine areas “where we have complementary capabilities and needs”, which are “strategically important” to “guarantee our sovereignty”, such as energy, AI and critical raw materials and in particular rare earths, the Canadian ambassador in Brussels, Jonathan Wilkinson, told AFP this week. Ottawa also hopes to conclude an agreement allowing the European Investment Bank (EIB) to finance Canadian projects linked to strategic minerals, in order to reduce dependence on China, the Canadian ambassador further explained.

Among the avenues, an entire application of the free trade agreement. Ten EU countries, including France, Italy and Poland, have not yet ratified this agreement, partly due to protests in the agricultural world. This limits its scope, with the provisions relating to investment protection and dispute resolution remaining a dead letter for the moment. In addition, discussions are underway to relax rules on labor mobility and increase student exchanges through Erasmus, the hugely popular EU program. There is also talk that Canada will contribute to the EU's 90 billion euro loan to Ukraine, by participating in defense projects in favor of Ukraine.