Fact-check: From imports to immigrants, what Donald Trump has got wrong about Canada 

The new tariffs imposed on Canada by the United States have come into effect from today (March 4). President Donald Trump has called the tariffs on Canadian goods necessary to force action on the migrants and to curb drugs entering America through its northern border.

Effective immediately, imports from Canada and Mexico will be subject to a 25 per cent tariff , with Canadian energy products incurring a 10 per cent tariff.

Potus has also publicly labelled the substantial flow of billions of dollars in daily cross-border trade as a form of US subsidy and made the controversial claim that Canada’s very existence as a country is contingent upon this trade. He has made inaccurate remarks about bilateral economic relations and the situation at the border.

Here is a fact-check of the US president’s statements on Canada.

Canada gets 95 per cent of its “product” from the United States

The US President has claimed that Canada gets 95 per cent of its “product” from across the border. But, according to Statistics Canada, this figure for Canada’s imported goods is inaccurate.

In 2024, 62.2 per cent of Canada’s total imports came from the United States, the government agency said.

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University of Toronto economist Joseph Steinberg noted, “a lot of what Canadian consumers buy is produced domestically,” so Trump’s 95 per cent claim can only be credibly scrutinised if it is assumed he was talking about imports.

“If we… focus on imports, does the US account for 95 per cent? Not quite, although it is a really high number,” Steinberg said.

Statistics Canada also reported a 75.9 per cent of the country’s exports went to the United States last year.

The US has a $250 billion trade deficit with Canada

During his appearance at the World Economic Forum in January, Trump asserted that the United States was facing a trade deficit with Canada amounting to either $200 billion or $250 billion.

At the end of 2024, the United States Trade Representative and the US Census Bureau reported a trade deficit with Canada of $63.3 billion. In contrast, Statistics Canada indicated a surplus of C$102.3 billion (equivalent to $70.3 billion) with the United States.

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But trade deficits are not subsidies and the data does not affirm that the United States is propping up Canada’s economy, Steinberg said. “International trade is a mutually beneficial transaction,” he said. “The United States pays Canada for products, it wouldn’t pay Canada for those products if it didn’t feel that it was worth it in this case.” US oil purchases from Canada are a main driver of the trade deficit, he added.

American banks not allowed in Canada

The 78-year-old president took to social media last month and claimed, “American banks are not allowed to do business in Canada.” But, this is also a false claim because foreign banks, including American financial institutions, are regulated by Canada’s federal Bank Act.

“There are 16 US-based bank subsidiaries and branches with around Can$113 billion in assets currently operating in Canada,” the Canadian Bankers Association said in a February 3 statement on X. These include JP Morgan Chase, CitiBank and Bank of America, which have offices in most major Canadian cities.

Undocumented migrants, drugs flowing across the border

Trump has asserted that a significant number of undocumented migrants and the drug fentanyl are crossing the border.

Kelly Sundberg, a criminologist at Mount Royal University in Calgary, refutes Trump’s claims regarding fentanyl, pointing to data that demonstrates that less than one per cent of the deadly opioid found in the United States originates from Canada.

According to the United States Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agency, out of over 21,800 pounds (9,900 kilogrammes) of fentanyl intercepted by agents during the 2024 fiscal year, 43 pounds were seized near the northern border with Canada.

CBP data also reported US border patrol agents apprehended 23,721 people illegally crossing the Canadian border in fiscal year 2024. Nationally last year, CBP agents came into contact with more than 1.5 million undocumented migrants.

“Canada is under greater threat from the United States than the United States is from Canada for most things – guns, drugs (and) illegal immigrants,” Sundberg said. He said more relaxed drug laws in Canada could project an inflated sense of illicit substances entering the United States.

With inputs from AFP