Carney urges Canadians to buy local as Trump threatens 100% tariffs

In the face of US President Donald Trump's latest threat that Ottawa will be slapped a 100 percent tariff over a potential trade deal with Beijing, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has stepped up his call on fellow citizens to buy more domestic products.

This came after Carney's visit to China, Canada's second-biggest trading partner, which sought to reset the countries' strained relationship and firm up trade ties in various sectors.

Donald Trump warned in a Truth Social post on Saturday that "China will eat Canada alive, completely devour it, including the destruction of their businesses, social fabric, and general way of life."

He has threatened to immediately impose a heavy levy of 100 percent on "all Canadian goods and products" if a deal is reached between Ottawa and Beijing.

Calling the Canadian leader "Governor," a reference to his rhetoric of making Canada the 51st state of the US, Trump claimed Mark Carney would be "sorely mistaken" if he thinks he's going to "make Canada a 'Drop Off Port' for China to send goods and products into the United States."

Just a week ago, the US president expressed support for Carney on the trade agreement with China.

Carney addressed in a video on Saturday that Canada's economy is "under threat from abroad," while renewing his push for buying local and a more diversified trade.

"We can't control what other nations do. We can be our own best customer. We'll buy Canadian. We'll build Canadian."

Carney recently made the remarks that tariffs have been used as a tool of coercion by certain large powers as he urged nations to develop greater strategic autonomy.

Earlier this month, he announced a preliminary deal was reached between Canada and China to remove trade barriers and bring down tariffs.

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick indicated in an interview that the deal could become an issue over revamping of the US-Mexico-Canada trade negotiations scheduled for this summer.

Officials in Beijing have repeatedly stressed that there is no winner in a trade war or tariff war, and that protectionism is a dead end. They said decoupling only leads to self-isolation, and economic oppression and coercion would not provide any solution to the problem.