US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose heavy tariffs on the European Union or halt trade with the bloc if Brussels moves ahead with a proposal to make Canada its first associate member.
The warning came after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen raised the idea of closer ties with Canada, a day before Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney was due to address the European Parliament.
Both Canada and the EU have been seeking to strengthen their relationship as they face a more confrontational approach from the Trump administration.
Asked about the proposal on Wednesday, Trump dismissed it as “laughable” and warned that Washington could respond with significant trade measures.
“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,” Trump told reporters.
He added that if the move was made with “good intention”, it would be acceptable, but warned that the US could impose “very heavy tariffs” if it viewed the proposal as hostile.
Von der Leyen had proposed expanding cooperation with Carney in areas including technology, defence and energy, as the Canadian leader became the first non-European head of government to attend the EU’s annual State of the Union address.
Addressing the European Parliament in Strasbourg, von der Leyen said democracies were facing a “fracture in the international rules-based system” and called for closer ties between Brussels and Ottawa.
“I would like to work with you on opening the door for Canada to be the first associate member of the EU,” she told Carney, prompting a standing ovation from lawmakers.
Carney has been pursuing closer relations with the EU as Canada becomes increasingly caught up in a trade dispute with the United States.
He is scheduled to address the European Parliament on Thursday, with his visit also expected to pave the way for an EU-Canada summit in Montreal next month.
Von der Leyen said the relationship should move beyond trade towards what she described as an “alliance for the future”, with the aim of taking EU-Canada ties to the highest possible level.
She proposed cooperation in intelligent manufacturing, technology, defence industries and Arctic projects, while also highlighting energy, critical minerals, batteries, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and economic security.
“This is a partnership not against anyone else, but for our common strength,” she said.
The EU and Canada have both faced pressure from US tariffs and territorial threats, while also dealing with growing competition from China.
Carney’s office said Canada was strengthening ties with trusted partners as the world became “more dangerous and divided”.
However, the concept of “associate membership” is not currently provided for under EU treaties.
The idea was first proposed by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz earlier this year in relation to Ukraine. Under that proposal, Ukraine would have been able to attend EU summits, appoint a representative to the European Commission and benefit from parts of the bloc’s budget, but without full voting rights.
Tobias Cremer, a centre-left German member of the European Parliament and a key sponsor of a resolution supporting closer EU-Canada relations, said it remained unclear what von der Leyen’s proposal would entail.
EU member states would have to approve any form of partnership with a third country, meaning it was also uncertain how much support the proposal would receive from national governments.
The EU and Canada already have extensive economic ties through the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), which removed almost all tariffs and has been credited with increasing trade in goods and services by more than 80 per cent since 2016.
Canada also became the first non-EU country this year to join a major European defence loan programme.
Carney later travelled to Britain for his first meeting with new UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham, where the two attended an Everton-Wolverhampton football match before Carney returned to Strasbourg ahead of his European Parliament address on Thursday.
