DES MOINES – Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley said U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to hit an array of Canadian goods with new tariffs should serve as a “wake-up call to Canada to make some changes.”
“I think the president is probably using them as a lever,” Grassley said Friday in an interview with The Canadian Press at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines.
While the senior Republican has been a key backer of Trump’s agenda on Capitol Hill, he also has continued to voice his support for free trade despite the president’s growing tariff regime.
Grassley said there’s nothing wrong with Canada and the United States having tough negotiations but they can’t be allowed to undermine the trilateral trade agreement known as CUSMA.
“These negotiations cannot be used as a way of destroying (CUSMA),” Grassley said.
Canadian officials have intensified trade talks with their American counterparts in recent weeks after Trump signed an executive order to impose 50 per cent tariffs on a range of Canadian goods starting Aug. 19.
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Trump threatens to cut off Canadian trade ties amid increase in U.S. interest rates
The Trump administration says the new duties are a response to provincial bans on U.S. liquor, Canada’s supply-managed dairy system and quotas on certain U.S. vehicles.
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With the exception of Alberta and Saskatchewan, all provinces and territories have banned the sale U.S. booze over the past year in response to the Trump administration’s tariff policy.
United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, who was also at the Iowa State Fair on Friday, called the talks with Canada “constructive” but gave no sign that a deal might emerge in the days before the new duties take effect.
Unlike most of Trump’s other tariffs, the new duties would have no exemptions for goods that comply with the continental trade pact.
CUSMA was negotiated during the first Trump administration to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement. The sometimes volatile negotiations served as a key test for Ottawa but ultimately all three countries came to an agreement.
The Trump administration said in July it would not be extending CUSMA for another 16 years. That triggered an annual rolling review process that will continue for a decade, at which point the deal would expire if the three countries do not agree on an extension.
Trump has cast doubt on the future of the agreement, calling it “irrelevant” and saying it may have served its purpose.
Mexico and the United States have begun official CUSMA negotiations, but no such talks have started between Ottawa and Washington. Political observers say that Trump’s latest tariff threats are meant to force Canada to the table.
Grassley has long said that CUSMA should remain in place. On Friday, he said Trump wants to “tweak” the agreement a little bit and accused Canada of not upholding its CUSMA commitments to dairy access.
“I think we are going to have very friendly relations with Canada and we should have friendly relations with Canada,” Grassley said. “(CUSMA) should continue.”
Grassley joined Greer and U.S. Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler at the Iowa State Fair. The fair attracts a million people over 10 days, making it a critical stop for politicians hoping to win votes ahead of the November midterm elections.
As Greer spoke with local media, residents and agricultural influencers, the state of trade talks with Canada came up constantly.
While he repeated the administration’s complaints about trade deficits and Canada’s supply management system, he also said there will always be trade between Canada and the United States.
Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Janice Charette, Canada’s chief trade negotiator, are remaining in Washington over the weekend to continue negotiations.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 15, 2026.
Grassley is a Trump shill and another creaky dried up Republican who should resign. Trump himself started all this – broke the current agreement he made and continues to threaten and bully Canada. He’s a liar and a cheat, who destroys everything he touches and who will never stop being ruinous, duplicitous, and corrupt. We know exactly how he operates and he cannot be trusted, period. Stay the course – only deals that work for Canada. We are not alone in the world but the US increasingly is. With Mark Carney at the helm, Canada will survive and thrive. Trump is not going to be around much longer one way or the other, good riddance, and one wonders if the US, as it stands, will be either.
This is a wake up call not to trust America anymore.
Buy non-american.
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I respectfully believe that it is not Canada who needs to wake up! The USA does not and will never have the right to dictate another coutries policies! Those are decided by the people of that other country and in Canada’s instance decided democratically. No one in the USA has the right to demand we change anything! Respectfully Sir, I think you may have contracted a case of Trumpitis!
We need a citizen reaction like the booze ban.
Maybe, a protest that makes the Alaska highway a non viable route “through” Canada.
It is Not, an international route, so we should mention that with 25000 Canadians at the border crossings.
Grassley can eat a Canadian d*ck.
Liberals continue to believe their fantasy that Canada has some kind of an Ace up it’s sleeve against the U.S.
Unfortunately the cold hard truth is we don’t. We literally have no power to hold the U.S at bay
It’s interesting to see how American media choose to not include both sides of the coin, or how not only does Canada have the minerals, energy and natural resources wanted and needed by the USA, but how Canada has been gaining trade agreements globally, working to secure it’s future among the many rather than continue relying on an abusive trade partner going forward. They decline to mention how the additional tariffs are a double edged sword that do make buying Canadian more expensive but the cost of that expense is paid by the buyer, not Canada selling their goods. Americans pay more. Both economies suffer but Canada has job increases, growing trade, increasing GDP. Like a partner in an abusive relationship who starts stepping away from the abuser and with the help of friends across the globe, starting over on their own. Not an easy start but nothing good comes easy.
There’s a break-up that Trump has been forcing. And Canada’s doing what it can to remain friends, but also send the message “It’s not us… it’s you.”
Senator Grassley’s comments reveal a deeper contradiction in U.S. trade policy: the very administration threatening these 50% tariffs is the one that previously touted CUSMA as the ‘greatest trade deal ever made.’ Abruptly abandoning a signed continental agreement in favor of economic coercion is not a good-faith exchange; it is a regression to a primitive, hostile style of negotiation. When a trading partner relies entirely on intimidation rather than structured diplomacy, the only logical response is to firmly push back using real economic data.
Liberals continue to believe their fantasy that Canada has some kind of an Ace up it’s sleeve against the U.S.
Unfortunately the cold hard truth is we don’t. We literally have no power to hold the U.S at bay,economically or militarily. We are a weak subservient nation that has,in a round about way,been the 51st State for decades.
Canada has been fairly collegial on trade negotiations up to now but we are about to start making things hurt
We need to diversify our economy and this process has started and there is no turning back. There is no point in making any type of trade agreement with the US until Trump is gone, and that won’t be long now. Trump has already sealed his fate as the worst US president in history by losing the war with Iran. What a maga-mess this guy is leaving behind.
As per many peeps below, Canada is making changes… AWAY from you nutbars…. if you want, we could build a wall… you’d have to pay for it though…
Yes, Grassley is correct. Trump’s tariffs are a wake-up call and we are making changes. Not the ones he thinks we should. We are working hard to diversify our trading away from the US as quickly as possible. America is no longer dependable or trustworthy, thanks to the Orange Menace.
Wake up? Tens of billions of dollars the Americans use to subsidize their dairy farms EVERY year. The US wants a rigged monopoly game, just like Trump. Just a hard no.
DJT just wants to destroy everything that was and is good!
Wake up call how dare he say that. He needs to wake up how about he wake up , the worst human ever is President and he sits there. Shame on him the USA is being destroyed .
Elobows eh: you can do what all day ? Live in poverty? Enjoy the experience. You voted for it. As for trump
Is foolish. AB should shut off pipelines to eastern canada. Learn to suffer more. You earned it
Mr. Grassley seems to forget that none of the previous tariffs had the intended effect. None of these will either. I know he was speaking to a local crowd, not to Canada, but it seems he does not grasp the depth of our dislike for this kind of bullying. Like Capt. America said: ”I can do this all day.” Well, so can we.
We should apply an export tax to the oil, potash, critical minerals, electricity to make it fair market price instead of subsidizing it. They claim they need nothing from us, but there importing the above substantially. They need the above from us to survive, so, I think we hold all the cards.
Mind your business, Chuck.
Be a wake up call when Canada cuts supplies of oil , gas, electricity, water, potash, fertilizer, critical minerals, lumber, and other products the USA can not get . Elbows up ! Sink the trump regime at the midterms.
@ Paul, your comment is incorrect. There are U.S. banks in Canada, tariffs on poultry and dairy are only if they go over the quota allowed, which has not happened to this day. @Dave and @ anonymous the products in the states are not cheaper, I was in a grocery store 2years ago in states (along for the ride)and the price for products was the same and some items more, add in exchange, tolls, gas and not worth it. Maybe years ago but no longer. @ Sheila, Doug Ford put a surcharge on the electricity to Michigan early in the trade war, the orange blob and Ludnuts almost had a coronary, they certainly didn’t like it. Notice he doesn’t want to slap tariffs on Canada for energy, oil or potash , now why would that be. Trump started all this but, doesn’t like when we retaliate. The U.S. cannot be trusted as their word is not worth the paper it’s written on. Canada has options for retaliation and should use them. Yet the states want preferential access to our critical minerals and energy. However, this so called deal turns out. I will not purchase anything from the USA or travel there ever. I prefer to support my own country and like minded countries.
Canada should add a 50% export surcharge on Canadian energy, potash, lumber, critical minerals etc. being shipped to the USA.
Canada should basically stop all negotiations and just let it happen. But then, also make electricity and water more expensive to them. See what they say then
I see fake americans are hard at work here. Move to the usa.
Idiots who believe Trump will annex Canada and make it the 51st state are the same idiots who think their elbows will magically protect them from big bad Trump! Anyone who says Canada is overwhelmingly liberal has to be an easterner who favours our rigged election system since the east has the power to elect liberal creeps and bums!
Hey Joe I dare you to cut the hydro to the US. Cutting. Line 5 will also cut power to Eastern Canada. You can riot and loot in the dark with them
If Trump can somehow cause the end of supply management on dairy, I will be grateful!! I will also continue to buy American products if they are cheaper!
I see the computer room at the mental hospital is open
@Ali
It’s called supporting the country which is something you don’t care about, must be one of the separatist. Move to the usa.
As far as this, carney will fold like a cheap tent like the gutless liberals do
Some people think it is OK, even deserved for Canada to rip off the USA. Our dairy and poultry tariffs prevent US companies from competing in Canada. We subsidize our auto industry so they can compete and take jobs away from Canada. We restrict US banks from operating in Canada yet all our major banks operate in the USA.
Now the USA is saying all this is not fair and want even trade and Canadians get upset? We say it is our right to take advantage of the USA? Well one way or the other things are going to change.
I don’t understand why the Americans thinks it is ok what their President is doing. Canada does not owe America anything. They owe us a lot. We have allowed them to come to our Country on the pretense of giving jobs while they rape our country of its oil gas electricity water and they call it free trade.
@anti lying liberals. Get your mitts off Alberta’s economy. Go back to watching Ford destroy everything in Ontario and enjoy the suffering
Quit voting for politicians that deny opportunity. Impose regulations that destroy opportunity. Feel they have control who wins and loses in the economy. Steal all your income, and then borrow more on things that don’t benefit you.
I wish carney the clown had a backbone and the morality to actually stand up against the US and employ massive tariffs on our exported energy but hey he loves to sell out to the orange one…..
Let them introduce American milk. Nobody will buy it anyways.
Grassley is one of the most vile and corrupt of the Geriatric Senators…and that’s saying something, considering the bar.
If he’s that bad for the US, idk why we would even give him any coverage as a worthwhile comment.
Maybe Grassley should look at how much of the world is moving away from the US and have his own wake-call”. dementia donnie maybe using the tariffs as a lever, however that lever can only be pulled once.
American law doesn’t contain any kind of pathway for a sovereign nation like Canada to become an American state…as well, Canada is an overwhelmingly liberal country and if Canadians were annexed as a 51st state and had voting privileges in American elections, there would never be another Republican president elected…
Funny thing is since they slapped on those Canadian flags on the shelves its been way way way more expensive to buy, I will continue to buy the cheaper and better products and those usually come from the USA!.
I buy American products, such as Arizona green tea and a variety of meat products at Costco. I have nothing against the everyday man and woman who produce these products.
.
Americans may be cousins, and our roots intertwined. but they are a Me,Me, Me society and that is the heart of the difference. Canada needs to forget the past and move on to more trustworthy trading partners, and if that means joining the EU and better relations with China , so be it. Distant cousins don’t matter anyway.
Maybe if senator Grassley didn’t support the government giving tens of billions of dollars in subsidies to large dairy farms he would have an arguement. Otherwise don’t give us your tainted advice.
Don’t fall for Trumps tactics.
They are dying to get their booze on our shelves, so, don’t do it.
Or put 💯 tariffs on it.
Trump will be gone soon….let’s see how they handle the economy then.
One man screwing the entire world! !
If Trump wants to renegotiate CUSMA, then putting in place a tariff that ignores it is a truly stupid way to do it. Why should Canada negotiate a free trade agreement, if Trump is not going to follow it?
Trump should be offering incentives to us to allow him access to our market (10% of US in size) and access to our oil, gas, potash, aluminium that the US cannot do without. Amazing that he simply does not understand business. Toddler behavior will not get him the results he wants. (unless Carney is more of a toddler).
The biggest wake up call for CanaDUH is never vote LIEberal ever.
The US and the idiots in charge of it don’t seem to get it.
It’s done. You’re cooked. The world has moved on. Canada certainly has.
There is no point making a deal with the man-baby in chief; the US is now beholden to his whim, which changes as frequently as his diaper.
We can approach the table again when the fascists have been removed from power.
Carney and his supporters lack the intelligence and critical thinking skills required
Well Jimmy, the easiest thing would be to pack up and move to the US because Canadians will never let out country be the 51st state. Put the booze back on the shelf. Means nothing. No one is going to buy it and because of that, the LCBO and others won’t be purchasing their profucts with no demand.
I Believe President Trump is confident tariff will bring down canada on knees and 51 state will be easily achieved. Trump is so far achieved toword 51 state goal .hope before his terms end canada will be 51 state
Why should we put their booze back on shelves, most of it isn’t even any good. If anything we should add counter tariffs to the things they desperately need. Oil, potash, electricity. Throw a 100% on those for America only and see how that goes. Trump wants to play hard, i say we let them riot in the dark while they starve without means of transportation. Just imagine a Detroit without electricity for a week, the riots and looting that would ensue. And that’s just 1 city.