Key Takeaways
- Trump told a Port Huron rally that he expects the Canada trade dispute to be settled “pretty soon.”
- Trump repeated an unsupported claim that Canada has made $90 billion a year from the United States.
- No agreement has been signed; formal talks broke down in August and tariffs remain on both countries' goods.
'We'll Have That Settled Pretty Soon'
President Donald Trump brought his Canada trade fight to a town that can see Canada from its waterfront. Speaking at a campaign rally at McMorran Place in Port Huron, Michigan — a border community on the St. Clair River, directly across from Ontario — on Sunday, October 25, Trump told the crowd the long-running dispute would be settled "pretty soon," and claimed Canada was "willing to give us anything at this moment."
"Canada has been ripping off the United States for years, OK? For years. And I had to do it. We'll have that settled pretty soon. They're willing to give us anything at this moment," Trump said. The rally came nine days before the November 3 U.S. midterm elections, with the Canada dispute a live issue in border states like Michigan.
The $90-Billion Claim Comes With It
Trump's sharpest number came before the rally even began. In an interview with FOX 2's Roop Raj, he claimed Canada has been profiting at America's expense for years — a figure he stated without citing a source for it.
"Canada has been making $90 billion a year off us for years and years. They've taken advantage of our country, but we're getting close to a deal," Trump said. "I love Canada; I love everything about it — other than some of the leaders."
He insisted he was in no rush: "I want to make the right deal. I'm not a short-term person, I'm a long-term." He offered no terms, no timeline and no details of what a deal would cover.
Ottawa Isn't Saying 'Anything'
The Michigan remarks matched Trump's White House comments two days earlier, where he said Canada was "working very hard" to reach an agreement. The tariff list kept moving that same week: on Friday, Trump announced he would lift some of the 50 per cent tariffs at month's end — a move the White House said came at the request of Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine — even as other Canadian products were added to the rolls, with changes effective October 30.
But nothing has been signed. The Prime Minister's Office did not immediately return a request for comment, and Prime Minister Mark Carney has repeatedly said there are limits his government will not cross — a long way from "willing to give us anything." Formal talks broke down in August, and both sides have since imposed tariffs on billions of dollars of each other's goods.
The Twikup Take
A deal announced at a campaign rally, with no terms attached and nine days to the midterms, is a headline — not a deal. Tariffs don't move on rally lines; they move on signatures, and Canadian exporters have heard "close" before. The real test this week is simple: does Ottawa confirm any of it?
Photo: Gage Skidmore / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) — President Donald Trump speaking at the "Build the Red Wall" rally at Dream City Church in Phoenix, Arizona.