The Hill
Trump says Canada will face tariffs over wildfire smoke, claiming ‘willful negligence’
by Sophie Brams - 07/17/26 4:00 PM ET
President Trump threatened on Friday to impose additional tariffs on Canada, accusing the country’s government of “willful negligence” in its handling of massive wildfires that have wafted heavy smoke and worsened air quality in parts of the Midwest and East Coast.
“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 wrote in a Truth Social post.
More than a dozen U.S. states are under air quality alerts as wildfires continue to burn across Canada and in northern Minnesota, with officials urging residents in some major U.S. cities, such as Chicago and Washington, D.C., to stay indoors or wear masks due to potentially hazardous air pollution.
The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, a fire protection service based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, reported 897 active fires as of Friday, with Ontario, Quebec and the Northwest Territories seeing the most activity. Fewer than 100 of those fires are considered “under control.”
Trump said he planned to call Prime Minister Mark Carney on Friday to “find out what they are going to do about it,” accusing the Canadian government of refusing to engage in “basic Forest Management” and debris removal.
“This is Willful Negligence, and becoming a yearly occurrence, costing the United States Billions of Dollars, which cost of this pollution must of necessity be added to the TARIFFS Canada is currently paying,” the president added.
Carney brushed off the criticism during a news conference in London, Ont. on Thursday, while also taking a subtle jab at the Trump administration’s environmental and energy policies.
“Fighting climate change is the responsibility of all countries, including the United States,” Carney told reporters in French, according to The Canadian Press.
Winds from the northwest are expected to clear skies later this week, but National Weather Service meteorologist Jake Petr told The Associated Press that smoke could keep returning until the fires are completely out.
Exposure to the fine particles found in wildfire smoke can cause respiratory issues, eye irritation, coughing, difficulty breathing and worsen existing health problems. In some cases, long-term exposure can lead to serious health conditions, including heart failure, impacted brain function and premature death, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Republicans have also accused the Canadian government of not doing enough to prevent the wildfires, which appear to be cropping up more frequently.
“This is the third consecutive year we have had to write to Canadian officials about a crisis that Canada has the tools to prevent and has chosen not to,” GOP Reps. John James, Jack Bergman, John Moolenaar and Lisa McClain, all of Michigan, wrote in a letter to Carney.
“If Canada will not manage its forests to prevent these fires, the United States will look elsewhere, and act on our own, to protect our people,” the four Republicans added.
On Thursday, Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) wrote on the social platform X that planned to introduce legislation that would impose sanctions on Canada and Canadian officials “for this atrocity.”
Updated at 5:00 p.m. EDT.
AH: Canadians are a pretty willfully negligent people.
