Washington, September 15 — President Donald Trump threatened on Tuesday to halt trade with the European Union after reports that the bloc had offered Canada membership, calling the proposal “laughable” during a White House meeting with Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin. Trump did not specify what legal or economic mechanisms the United States would use to carry out the threat. The remarks mark a sharp escalation in transatlantic tensions.
The EU has not formally offered Canada membership. Canada is not a European country, and its accession would require treaty changes and unanimous approval from all 27 member states.
The office of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The European Commission declined to comment on Trump’s remarks.
The scale of what is at stake
The US is the EU’s largest trading partner, with total goods and services trade exceeding $1.3 trillion annually, according to US Census Bureau and Eurostat data. In 2024, US goods exports to the EU totaled $370.2 billion, while imports from the EU were $605.8 billion, resulting in a goods trade deficit of $235.6 billion, according to the US Census Bureau. Trump has previously threatened tariffs on EU goods, including a 200% tariff on European alcoholic beverages in March 2025, and has criticized the EU’s trade surplus with the US.
The US imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from the EU in 2018, and the EU retaliated with tariffs on US goods. In 2025, the two sides have been negotiating to avoid a trade war.
The EU and Canada have a comprehensive free trade agreement, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), signed in 2016 and provisionally applied since 2017. CETA eliminates tariffs on most goods and services. The EU’s trade with Canada totaled €70.9 billion (about US$76.5 billion) in goods in 2024, according to Eurostat.
The US trade relationship with the EU supports millions of jobs on both sides. Trump’s threat to halt trade would have significant economic implications, though it is unclear how such a move would be implemented given the deep integration of the transatlantic economy.
The White House did not provide further details on the threat. What to watch next is whether the EU responds formally to the threat, and whether Washington attaches any mechanism to it.
