U.S. President Donald Trump criticized the Ottawa government because smoke from forest fires in Canada is spreading into U.S. territory. He emphasized that this situation is causing environmental and economic damage and indicated the possibility of imposing additional tariffs on Canadian goods.
Trump said on Truth Social that Canada is not effectively managing its forests and described the situation as "unacceptable." He stated that he would contact Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to ask what measures are being taken to resolve the problem.
According to the U.S. President, the "negligence" in Canada is causing the United States billions of dollars in losses each year. Therefore, he said that the economic costs arising from air pollution should be added to the tariffs being applied to Canadian products.
The Canadian side, however, announced that the country has allocated 12 billion Canadian dollars since 2020 for forest protection and fire prevention efforts. Canadian officials emphasized that there is a longstanding cooperation with the U.S. in combating forest fires.
Currently, the major fires in Canada are mainly observed in the northwestern part of Ontario province. As a result of the fires, hundreds of thousands of hectares of land have been damaged, and thousands of people have been evacuated to safe locations.
Experts note that due to climate change, forests are drying out and large fires are increasing. In the U.S. as well, large-scale fires have been recorded since the beginning of the year.
