Trump blames Canada for wildfire smoke, says he’ll add cost to tariffs

• President Trump blamed Canada for wildfire smoke affecting the US and said he will add the cost of pollution to tariffs on Canadian goods.
• Canadian wildfires have burned over 650,000 acres, causing evacuations and prompting Ontario to buy 11 new firefighting aircraft.
• US officials note an above-average fire year with 3.7 million acres burned, while Canadian Prime Minister Carney urges joint climate action.

OTTAWA - President Donald Trump on July 17 blamed Canada for wildfire smoke spreading across the United States and said he would add the “incalculable cost” of dealing with the pollution to existing tariffs on Canadian goods.

Heavy smoke from hundreds of Canadian fires enveloped a swathe of the US from the Midwest to the North-east on July 16 and 17, prompting warnings to residents to stay indoors.

Trump, who has a combative relationship with Prime Minister Mark Carney, said he would be calling the Canadian leader to find out what he planned to do about the “totally unacceptable” situation.

“We are holding Canada responsible for the fact that they are not properly maintaining their Forests... and the United States is being unnecessarily invaded by filthy, polluted, and unhealthy air,” he said in a Truth Social post.

“This is Willful Negligence, and becoming a yearly occurrence, costing the United States Billions of Dollars, which cost of this pollution must of necessity be added to the TARIFFS Canada is currently paying.”

Climate experts, however, say higher temperatures have led to drier forests and more wildfires in recent years. Canada has one of the world’s largest forests.

“As our climate warms, we’re seeing more conducive hot, dry, windy, more extreme weather, and we’re going to see more fire,” said Mike Flannigan, a professor of wildland fire at Thompson Rivers University in British Columbia.

Shortly after taking office in 2025, Trump imposed tariffs on several key imports from Canada.

Carney’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Carney said on July 16 the United States could do more to combat climate change that is leading to warmer and more extreme temperatures around the world.

The two men are likely to meet at the FIFA World Cup final in New Jersey on July 19.

Most of the blazes are in the giant province of Ontario and are concentrated in the remote and sparsely populated north-west, where the only mode of transport is aeroplanes.

So far, 650,000 acres (2,630 sq km) are on fire, compared with 600,000 acres at the same time in 2025. Thousands of people have been evacuated.

‘Nothing remaining’

Namaygoosisagagun First Nation, also known as Collins First Nation, in north-western Ontario was burned to the ground, forcing residents to evacuate by boat and seek shelter in Thunder Bay, Matthew Hoppe, the community’s incident commander, told Reuters.

“There was nothing remaining. So as you can imagine, the membership is totally distraught, upset, overwhelmed, lost,” Hoppe said.

Thunder Bay, a city of about 110,000 people on the northern shore of Lake Superior more than 1,300km north-west of Toronto, is at full capacity from sheltering wildfire evacuees from across north-western Ontario, Mayor Ken Boshcoff told Reuters.

Premier Doug Ford on July 17 said the province would buy 11 new aircraft to help counter the fast-spreading wildfires and pushed back against US politicians who have criticised the campaign as inadequate.

The United States is experiencing an above-average fire year, with 3.7 million acres (1.5 million hectares) burned to date in 2026 compared with a 10-year average of 2.7 million acres (1 million hectares), according to the National Interagency Fire Centre. REUTERS