United States President Donald Trump has warned the European Union against pursuing a plan to give Canada associate membership status, threatening to impose heavy tariffs or restrict trade with the bloc if he considers the move hostile to Washington.
Trump made the threat on Wednesday after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed closer ties between the EU and Canada, including the possibility of making Canada the bloc's first associate member.
“I think it’s laughable,” Trump told reporters when asked about the proposal.
“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 said.
Trump added that Washington's response would depend on the intention behind the initiative.
“If it’s a good intention, that’s fine. If it’s a bad intention, we’ll put very heavy tariffs on Europe,” he said.
Von der Leyen made the proposal during her annual State of the European Union address at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney attending the session.
“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, receiving a standing ovation from lawmakers.
She called for the EU and Canada to move beyond their existing trade relationship and establish what she described as an “alliance for the future”.
Under the proposed cooperation, Brussels and Ottawa would deepen collaboration in technology, defence, energy, critical minerals, artificial intelligence, cyber security and the Arctic.
“This is a partnership not against anyone else, but for our common strength,” von der Leyen said.
The proposal comes as Canada seeks to strengthen relations with Europe amid an increasingly difficult relationship with the United States under Trump.
Carney has been pursuing closer economic and strategic ties with the EU as Ottawa seeks to diversify its international partnerships.
His office said Canada was strengthening relationships with trusted partners in response to a “more dangerous and divided world”.
Questions over associate status
The proposed associate membership would not amount to full EU membership, but the exact structure of such an arrangement remains unclear.
EU treaties do not currently establish associate membership as a formal category, meaning any such arrangement would require agreement among the bloc's member states.
A similar concept has previously been discussed in relation to Ukraine, including proposals that would have allowed participation in some EU institutions and access to parts of the bloc's budget without granting full voting rights.
The EU and Canada already have extensive economic links through the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, which removed most tariffs between the two sides.
Canada has also become the first non-EU country to participate in one of the bloc's major defence financing programmes.
Carney is due to address the European Parliament on Thursday ahead of an EU-Canada summit scheduled to take place in Montreal next month.
The proposed expansion of EU-Canada ties, and Trump's warning in response, comes as Brussels and Ottawa seek to deepen cooperation while navigating trade tensions and changing strategic relations with Washington and Beijing.
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