Trump threatens trade deal after Canada moves towards recognising Palestine

Canada and the US are working on negotiating a trade deal by August 1, with Trump threatening a 35% tariff

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United States President Donald Trump has said it will be difficult to make a trade deal with Canada after it announced that it would back Palestinian statehood, following the examples of the United Kingdom and France amid growing international condemnation of Israel’s war on Gaza, Al Jazeera has reported.

“Wow! Canada has just announced that it is backing statehood for Palestine. That will make it very hard for us to make a Trade Deal with them. Oh’ Canada!!!” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social on Thursday. Canadian Prime Minster Mark Carney’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump’s post comes a day after Carney announced that Canada is planning to recognise the State of Palestine at the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly in September if certain conditions are met, following recent announcements by France and the UK.

Canada and the US are working on negotiating a trade deal by August 1, the date Trump is threatening to impose a 35 percent tariff on all Canadian goods not covered by the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement.

Carney said on Wednesday that tariff negotiations with Trump's administration have been constructive, but the talks may not conclude by the deadline.

Carney said recognising Palestinian statehood was necessary to preserve hopes of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a longstanding Canadian goal that was "being eroded before our eyes".