US President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to impose additional tariffs on Canada, accusing Ottawa of failing to manage its forests and allowing wildfire smoke to blanket parts of the United States with what he called “filthy, polluted, and unhealthy air.“In a post on Truth Social, Trump said Canada would be held responsible for the worsening air quality in American cities and warned that the economic cost of the pollution would be added to existing US tariffs on Canadian imports.“We are holding Canada responsible for the fact that they are not properly maintaining their forests, and brush therein, and the United States is being unnecessarily invaded by filthy, polluted, and unhealthy air, the quality of which is dangerous, and totally unacceptable!” Trump said.He also said he would speak to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to seek an explanation and discuss what Canada planned to do to address the issue.“I will call the Prime Minister during the day to find out what they are going to do about it. The cost is incalculable!” Trump added.Trump further accused Canada of refusing to undertake adequate forest management and debris removal, calling it “willful negligence” and claiming the recurring wildfire smoke has caused billions of dollars in losses to the United States.“The cost of this pollution must of necessity be added to the TARIFFS Canada is currently paying,” he added.Trump’s remarks came as smoke from hundreds of active wildfires in Canada drifted across the border, triggering air quality alerts in several US states. According to NASA, smoke from nearly 850 active wildfires in Canada, including more than 180 in Ontario, has spread across more than 20 US states from the Upper Midwest to the Northeast.The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre reported that about 888 wildfires were burning across Canada on Friday, with the majority listed as out of control. More than 190 of those fires were in Ontario.The wildfire smoke has affected air quality across parts of the United States, including Minnesota, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York. According to IQAir, Detroit recorded the world’s worst air quality on Friday, followed by Chicago, Washington DC and New York.The tariff threat follows criticism from several Republican lawmakers, who accused Canada of failing to take adequate action to prevent recurring wildfire smoke from crossing into the United States. In a letter to Canadian officials, lawmakers John James, John Moolenaar, Jack Bergman and Lisa McClain wrote, “We are done accepting apologies in place of action,” adding that “American lungs are paying the price for Canadian inaction, year after year.“Canadian officials have not responded to Trump’s latest tariff warning. Earlier, Prime Minister Mark Carney said both Canada and the United States share responsibility for addressing climate change, while Ontario Premier Doug Ford urged Washington to send additional firefighting support rather than criticise Canada’s response.Scientists, however, said wildfire smoke is driven largely by weather conditions rather than political boundaries. Dr Patrick James of the University of Toronto said, “Weather doesn’t care about international borders,” noting that smoke from major US wildfires has also affected Canada in recent years. Experts added that many of the current fires are burning in Canada’s vast remote forests, where detection and containment are difficult, and that while forest management can reduce risks near communities, it cannot prevent fires across such a large ecosystem.
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