’Unhinged’ for Canada to call dispute with U.S. a trade war, says Trump’s tariff chief

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer is rejecting the notion that his country is in a trade war with Canada. 'We don’t talk about it that way. For us, it’s business, it’s economics,' Greer told the FT News Briefing podcast.

Photo: AFP / GETTY / JIM WATSON

Mike Crawley (new window) · CBC News

U.S. President Donald Trump's top trade official says it's « unhinged » for Canadian leaders to characterize the administration's tariffs as a trade war against Canada.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Jamieson Greer downplayed the significance of the recently imposed 50 per cent U.S. tariffs to the Canadian economy and chastised Prime Minister Mark Carney for how he has described the trade dispute.

Prime Minister Carney used the term 'war.' It’s not a word we use, right? We don’t talk about it that way. For us, it’s business, it’s economics, Greer told the FT News Briefing podcast (new window).

The tariffs that took effect in August apply to just five per cent of Canada's exports to the U.S., Greer said.

To kind of have it whipped up into this giant thing, where we’re talking about war and economic attacks and all these things, it’s a little unhinged, he said.

The podcast was posted on Saturday, before Canada's retaliatory tariffs (new window) took effect on Tuesday; the U.S. quickly further responded with a plan to ban imports (new window) of Canadian alcohol, motorcycles and several food products, starting on Sept. 29.

WATCH | U.S. imposing import ban on Canadian booze as punishment for retaliation:

Trump hits Canada with new tariffs and product import bans

September 8|Duration4:34U.S. President Donald Trump hit back at Canada's counter-tariffs with stiff new tariffs on billions of dollars in some products, and outright bans on others, including alcohol.

Greer's office freshly amplified the podcast on Wednesday by sending a news release with links to the interview and excerpts of his comments.

It is the Canadians that came out and said, 'this is a war, this is an economic attack,' said Greer in the interview.

We’re just putting additional fees on foreign goods made by foreign workers in foreign countries. That’s all a tariff is.

Greer indicated in the interview that he had presented options to Trump for responding to Canada's retaliatory tariffs and that the president might pull the trigger.

Trump pulled that trigger on Tuesday evening by announcing the import ban, a plan to make Canadian companies ineligible for one U.S. government procurement program and some adjustments to the Canadian goods subject to the new 50 per cent tariff.

'Natural consequence' of Canada's retaliation

In a news release issued late Tuesday, Greer called the measures a natural consequence of Canada's trade tactics.

Canada chose to embark on senseless retaliation against the United States, he said.

Today's action [by Trump] is a natural consequence of Canada’s continued discriminatory treatment of crucial American exports, ranging from alcoholic beverages to dairy products to motor vehicles, Greer said.

WATCH | 'We're not at war with Canada,' says Trump's treasury secretary:

Trump official mocks Canada, insists there's no trade war

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent mocked Canada's ability to retaliate against the U.S. while insisting there is no trade war, comments that garnered pushback from several Canadian politicians.

Greer is not the first Trump cabinet member to reject trade war as a description of the Canada-U.S. dispute.

Asked in late August whether his country was in a trade war with Canada, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent dismissed the question.

We're not at war with Canada. How are we going to be at war with Canada? Bessent replied.