WASHINGTON (AP) —Canada's announcement it will recognize a Palestinian state"will make it very hard" for the United States to reach a trade agreement with its northern neighbor, PresidentDonald Trumpsaid. Trump's threat, posted early Thursday on his social media platform, is the latest way he has sought to use his trade war to coerce countries on unrelated issues. And when other allies had raised the matter of Palestinian statehood, the Republican president had been ambivalent. He said this week that he did not mind that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer wastaking the positionthat the United Kingdom would recognize a Palestinian state in September unless Israel agreed to a ceasefire inGaza, allowed the United Nations to bring in aid and took other steps toward long-term peace. Last week, the Republican president saidFrench President Emmanuel Macron's similar movewas "not going to change anything." But Trump, who has heckled Canada for months and suggestedit should become its 51st U.S. state, is now indicating that Prime Minister Mark Carney's similar recognition would become leverage before a looming deadline that the American leader set in U.S.-Canada trade talks. "Wow! Canada has just announced that it is backing statehood for Palestine," Trump said in his Truth Social post. "That will make it very hard for us to make a Trade Deal with them. Oh' Canada!!!" Trump has threatened to imposea 35% tariff on Canadaif no deal is reached by Friday, when he's said he will levytariffagainst goods from dozens of countries if they don't reach agreements with the U.S. A spokesperson for Carney declined comment Thursday. Some imports from Canada are still protected by the 2020 United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which is up for renegotiation next year. Carney's announcement Wednesday comes amida broader global shift against Israel's policiesin Gaza. Though Trump this week said he was "not going to take a position" on recognizing a Palestinian state, he later said that such a move would be rewarding Hamas, whosesurprise Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israelprompted a declaration of war and a massive military retaliation from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump's new cudgel against Canada comes afterhe sought this week to impose steep tariffson Brazil because it indicted former PresidentJair Bolsonaro, a Trump ally who like the U.S. president has faced criminal charges for attempting to overturn the results of his election loss. Citinga personal grievance in trade talks with Braziland now Canada's symbolic announcement on a Palestinian state adds tothe jumble of reasonsTrump has pointed to for his trade war, such as stopping human trafficking, stopping the flow of fentanyl, balancing the budget and protecting U.S. manufacturing. ___ Associated Press writer Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.
