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U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra says President Donald Trump‘s threat to impose new tariffs over smoke from Canadian wildfires should be taken seriously, arguing the ongoing haze is causing economic damage in the United States.
Smoke from Canadian wildfires has blanketed several major American cities, including Detroit, Washington and Chicago, prompting Trump to lash out at Canada on social media Friday.
“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 on Truth Social.
He said the wildfire smoke amounts to “Willful Negligence” and is “becoming a yearly occurrence, costing the United States Billions of Dollars.” He added that the cost of the pollution “is incalculable” and should be “added to the tariffs Canada currently pays.”
About 30 minutes after Trump’s post, Hoekstra sat down with Global News for an exclusive interview, where he defended the president’s position.
“The president is saying, yeah, I’m holding Canada accountable. We need to fix this,” Hoekstra said.
Hoekstra would not say how large any potential tariffs could be or what legal mechanism the administration might use to impose them. But he said Canada could face consequences if the issue is not addressed.
“There are potential consequences if we don’t get to a resolution,” he said.
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The ambassador pointed to economic and environmental impacts in the United States from the smoke. “Businesses are closing, because they don’t feel it’s safe for their workers to go into work. You know, bees are not pollinating,” Hoekstra said. “It is (also) affecting the tourism industry.”
The frustration is not limited to the White House. Republican House members Jack Bergman, John James, Lisa McClain and John Moolenaar sent a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney this week calling for what they described as immediate action by the Canadian government.
“American lungs are paying the price for Canadian inaction, year after year,” the lawmakers wrote. “Sovereignty comes with responsibility, and the responsibility to prevent a foreseeable disaster from crossing into another country’s airspace has not been met.”
Trump has previously threatened additional tariffs against Canada when frustrated with Canadian policies, including a proposed 10 per cent levy linked to the Ontario government’s anti-tariff advertising. Those threats were never implemented.
Asked whether the latest warning should be viewed differently, Hoekstra said, “Not taking the president of the United States serious — do that at your own risk.”
The U.S. Ambassador to Canada added if smoke from the wildfires continue to blanket New Jersey ahead of the World Cup final on Sunday, President Trump will not hesitate to ask the game be postponed.
“If the pollution is so bad that it’s dangerous to the players or it’s dangerous to the fans, the first person to say don’t hold the game will be the President of the United States,” Hoekstra said.
He also said the frustration is growing in the U.S. over recurring smoke from the wildfires north of the border. He said one proposal under discussion is having Canadian officials testify before Congress and state legislatures to help lawmakers better understand the unique challenges of fighting large fires in remote areas of Canada.
Hoekstra said the idea has been raised with the Prime Minister’s Office and Canada’s ambassador to the United States, Mark Wiseman. However, a senior government source told Global News Canadian officials have no plans to testify at public hearings in the United States.
The criticism from Trump and his ambassador comes despite the administration’s own moves to scale back U.S. climate action, even as scientists continue to link climate warming to more frequent and intense wildfire conditions.
In February, the Trump administration revoked scientific findings that have long been the central basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change, the most aggressive move by the president to roll back climate regulations.
Trump also withdrew the U.S. from the Paris climate deal in 2025, removing the world’s biggest historic emitter from global efforts to fight climate change for the second time in a decade.
A 2023 study found that human-caused climate warming more than doubled the likelihood of extreme fire weather conditions in eastern Canada.
–with files from Adriana Fallico, Katherine Cheng, Sergio Vargas, Ariel Rabinovitch, The Associated Press and Reuters
