President Donald Trump said, “I will put very serious tariffs or stop trading with Europe, on many things.” File
| Photo Credit: AP
U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Wednesday (September 16, 2026) to cut trade with the European Union after the bloc proposed to make Canada its first ever associate member.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen raised the prospect a day before Canadian leader Mark Carney was due to address the European Parliament.
Her pitch comes as both Canada and the European Union seek to pivot away from an aggressive United States under Trump’s leadership.
“I think it’s laughable,” Mr. Trump told reporters when asked about the plan.
“If they do that, if I think it’s at all a hostile act, I will put very serious tariffs or stop trading with Europe, on many things.”
He added: “If it’s a good intention, that’s fine. If it’s a bad intention, we’ll put very heavy tariffs on Europe, which is a possibility.”
Von der Leyen pitched closer cooperation on tech, defence and energy to Mr. Carney, who became the first non-European head of government to attend the annual “State of the European Union” speech.
The German told the European Parliament in Strasbourg that, as democracies face a “fracture in the international rules-based system,” Brussels and Ottawa needed to pull closer together.
“I would like to work with you on opening the door for Canada to be the first associate member of the EU,” Ms. Von der Leyen told the Canadian premier, drawing a standing ovation in the chamber.
A broader alliance
Mr. Carney has been pursuing closer ties with the European Union as Canada gets drawn ever deeper into a trade war with the United States.
He is set to address the parliament on Thursday (September 17, 2026), with his visit meant to act as a catalyst ahead of an EU-Canada summit in Montreal next month.
Von der Leyen said it was time to move from cooperation based on trade to a broader “alliance for the future” and “bring the relationship with Canada to the highest level possible.”
“We will work on intelligent manufacturing. We will create a tech alliance. We will integrate defense industrial bases. We will make the Arctic a flagship joint project,” she said.
She listed energy, critical minerals, batteries, AI, cyber and economic security as other fields of cooperation.
“This is a partnership not against anyone else, but for our common strength,” she said.
But both the EU and Canada have been buffeted by tariffs and territorial threats from the U.S. and competition from China.
“In a more dangerous and divided world, Canada is forging stronger relationships with trusted partners,” Mr. Carney’s office said in a statement.
Published – September 17, 2026 11:49 am IST
