Trump threatens new Canada tariffs over wildfire smoke choking US cities

US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose new tariffs on Canada after smoke from devastating wildfires left much of the northern US suffocated by a dense haze.

In a post on Truth Social, the US president said the US has been invaded by dirty air. “ The cost of this pollution must of necessity be added to the Tariffs Canada is currently paying,” he wrote.

The threat was in response to objections by US lawmakers over the wildfires and Ontario’s premier Doug Ford asking the US to send assistance and support to fight the fires rather than complain.

Following Trump’s remarks, Carney’s emergency management cabinet minister said the two countries maintain constant communication and share an established collaboration on such disasters, citing a mutual aid agreement from 1982 and another assistance agreement that emerged from the 2025 G7 summit.

According to MP Eleanor Olszewski, Canada has worked to prevent wildfires and has invested about $12bn in sustainable forest management and fire prevention.

“This is a challenge that knows no borders, and Canada is working with speed, collaboration and coordination to keep people safe,” she continued.

US lawmakers John James, John Moolenaar, Jack Bergman and Lisa McClain said their patience has run out, while addressing Canadian officials.

“We are done accepting apologies in place of action, warning the US could explore direct involvement in cross-border wildfire protection and firefighting if Canada failed to act.

“We were told last year that this would be treated with urgency. It was not," they claimed, adding that instead, American lungs are paying the price for Canadian inaction, year after year.”

Wildfires are very common in Canada, but the number of outbreaks has surged in recent weeks. It has been observed that experts in both the US and Canada agree that the primary reason is likely the sustained hot weather at the end of June across northern Ontario.

Scientists also say global warming is driving drier conditions which allow fires to spread more easily.

The US is the world’s largest oil and gas producing nation and has historically emitted more greenhouse gases than any other country and making it a central driver of the climate crisis. 

Trump has taken a wrecking ball to US climate policy in the last year and a half, strengthening domestic hydrocarbons while aggressively rolling back environmental regulations in order to expand oil and gas exports.

Philadelphia and Cleveland had readings considered very unhealthy at about 260. Meanwhile, other parts of Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin also recorded readings in the danger zone. 

Nonetheless, organizers of the World Cup final in East Rutherford, New Jersey will be monitoring the rising smoke which is expected to reverse its decline and shift back into the North-east.