WORLD NEWS – Canada and China claim Trump’s “fake” concerns over fentanyl are a pretext for his new tariffs

Laila Kirkpatrick, Staff Writer

Officials in Canada and China have begun blasting Trump and his new administration for using illegal street fentanyl as a kind of justification for new trade tariffs that will go into effect today. In a statement made by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, he called the criticisms made by Trump “unjustified,” and noted that fentanyl seizures at the U.S. northern border have dropped to “near-zero.” Trudeau also said, “While less than 1 percent of the fentanyl intercepted at the U.S. border comes from Canada, we have worked relentlessly to address this scourge.” Trudeau also pointed to the $1.3 billion Canada has spent on measures to secure the border.

Both countries have called the link between fentanyl and smuggling trade barriers unjustified and have announced plans to retaliate. Trump is expected to comment about the clash on Tuesday night as part of his address to Congress. On Monday, the White House issued a statement that pointed to drugs as a key motivation for the administration’s new trade barriers. On Tuesday, the U.S. officially imposed 25% tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico and implemented an additional 10% tariff on Chinese goods.