Trump’s Trade War With Canada Escalates as Calls Grow to Expel U.S. Ambassador
Trump’s Trade War With Canada Escalates as Calls Grow to Expel U.S. Ambassador
The trade conflict between the United States and Canada has entered a new and increasingly confrontational phase.
What began as a dispute over tariffs and trade negotiations has now expanded into a broader diplomatic confrontation, with President Donald Trump escalating economic pressure on Canada while Canadian officials push back with targeted retaliation.
At the same time, a Canadian parliamentary petition calling for the removal of U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra has attracted more than 225,000 signatures, putting an increasingly uncomfortable spotlight on the state of relations between the two longtime allies.
But despite the dramatic rhetoric surrounding the dispute, there is an important distinction between what Canada could legally do and what Ottawa is actually prepared to do politically.
1. The Trade War Takes a New Turn
The latest escalation followed the collapse of U.S.-Canada trade negotiations in August.
On August 21, Prime Minister Mark Carney said the United States was preparing to impose a 50% tariff on roughly C$28 billion worth of Canadian goods.
Canada announced that it would respond dollar-for-dollar to protect Canadian workers and businesses.
The U.S. tariffs took effect on August 22 and were imposed under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, a provision of U.S. trade law that allows the president to impose additional duties when foreign countries are determined to be discriminating against U.S. commerce.
The measures cover approximately US$19.9 billion, or C$27.6 billion, of Canadian goods.
Canada subsequently announced matching counter-tariffs on U.S. goods.
Those Canadian measures took effect on September 8, with tariff rates of 15%, 25% and 50%, depending on the products involved. They target approximately C$27.6 billion worth of U.S. imports, including products in sectors such as steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper, plastics and electronics.
This is no longer simply a warning of retaliation.
The retaliation is now in effect.
2. Washington Escalates Again
The conflict has continued to intensify even after Canada’s counter-tariffs took effect.
On September 8, the Trump administration announced additional measures targeting certain Canadian imports, including alcoholic beverages, dairy products and motorcycles.
Those import bans are scheduled to take effect on September 29. The administration said the measures were designed to respond to what it considers discriminatory Canadian trade practices.
Trump has also threatened further action against Canadian companies, including aircraft manufacturer Bombardier.
The dispute therefore extends well beyond a single round of tariffs.
It is becoming a broader struggle over market access, national sovereignty and the future of economic relations between two countries whose economies have been deeply integrated for decades.
Prime Minister Carney has responded by emphasizing Canada's need to reduce its economic dependence on the United States and expand trade relationships with other countries.
3. Canada’s “Nuclear Option” Against the U.S. Ambassador
At the same time, another confrontation is developing on the diplomatic front.
A parliamentary petition launched by Calgary resident Leanne Walker calls on the Canadian government to declare U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra persona non grata and request his removal from Canada.
The petition is sponsored in Parliament by Green Party Leader Elizabeth May.
By late August, the petition had collected more than 225,000 signatures.
The petition accuses Hoekstra of making statements that undermine the Canada-U.S. relationship and of intervening in Canadian political affairs in ways the petitioners consider inconsistent with diplomatic protocol.
It also calls for parliamentary scrutiny of alleged U.S. diplomatic interference in Canadian affairs.
The petition has attracted particular attention because of Hoekstra's public comments about Trump's repeated suggestion that Canada could become the 51st U.S. state.
4. Why Pete Hoekstra Has Become a Target
Hoekstra has repeatedly defended Trump's controversial rhetoric about Canada.
In 2025, he said Trump's 51st-state comments could be viewed as a “term of endearment”, although he also said Canadians could interpret the remarks however they wished.
The ambassador has also faced criticism over reported contacts between Republican political operatives and Alberta separatist activists.
The petition specifically raises concerns about alleged links involving political operatives and Alberta separatist groups.
Hoekstra has rejected the suggestion that these relationships make him unsuitable to serve as ambassador. In an August interview, he said some of the people involved had previously worked in Republican politics and had contributed to his political campaigns.
He also defended his decision to amplify Trump's public statements, arguing that Canadians should be able to see the U.S. president's views directly.
These allegations and political disputes have helped transform Hoekstra himself into a symbol of the broader deterioration in Canada-U.S. relations.
5. Could Canada Actually Expel the Ambassador?
This is where the situation becomes legally interesting.
Under Article 9 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, a receiving state may notify the sending state that a diplomatic agent is persona non grata.
The receiving state does not have to provide a reason for doing so.
In other words, Canada has the diplomatic authority to declare a U.S. ambassador persona non grata.
But that does not mean such a decision would be politically simple.
Removing the sitting U.S. ambassador would represent an extraordinary escalation between two countries that remain major economic and security partners.
It could trigger reciprocal diplomatic action from Washington and potentially lead to the United States declaring Canada's ambassador persona non grata as well.
The petition itself does not force Prime Minister Mark Carney or the Canadian government to expel Hoekstra.
Because it is a parliamentary petition, its significance is primarily political.
Once properly presented in Parliament, the federal government is required to provide a formal response within the applicable parliamentary process. The petition does not automatically compel the government to accept its demands.
That distinction is crucial.
Canada has the legal ability to expel an ambassador. The question is whether the government believes the diplomatic consequences are worth doing so.
6. Hoekstra Says His Future Is Up to Trump
Hoekstra himself has dismissed the idea that the petition will determine his future.
In an August interview, he said that as long as President Trump believes he is doing a good job, he expects to remain in Canada.
That response effectively places the decision on the U.S. president rather than on the petition campaign.
The ambassador has also defended his conduct, arguing that communicating Trump's views to Canadians is part of his responsibility as the president's representative.
For Ottawa, however, the issue is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
The petition has grown from a relatively small political initiative into a major public demonstration of anger toward the current U.S. diplomatic posture.
7. A Diplomatic Move That Could Backfire
Expelling Hoekstra would undoubtedly send a powerful message.
It would tell Washington that Ottawa considers the current level of diplomatic friction unacceptable.
But it would also carry substantial risks.
The United States and Canada remain deeply connected through trade, energy, manufacturing, transportation, defense and supply chains.
The two countries also share the world's longest international border.
A diplomatic confrontation involving the ambassadors could therefore deepen an already serious economic dispute.
That is why Ottawa is unlikely to treat the petition as a simple question of whether Canada has the legal authority to remove Hoekstra.
The harder question is whether doing so would strengthen Canada's negotiating position—or make the broader trade dispute even more difficult to resolve.
8. The Trade War Is Already Expanding
That calculation is becoming more complicated as the economic confrontation intensifies.
Canada's September 8 counter-tariffs were designed to mirror U.S. Section 338 and Section 232 measures, with duties reaching as high as 50%.
Washington has now responded with additional import restrictions on selected Canadian products, including alcohol, dairy and motorcycles, with the new bans scheduled to take effect September 29.
The two governments are therefore moving beyond simple tariff exchanges.
Each new action creates political pressure for another response.
And each response makes a negotiated settlement more difficult.
9. What Happens Next?
The most important question is whether the current escalation eventually forces both sides back to the negotiating table—or pushes the relationship into a much deeper confrontation.
For Canada, the challenge is balancing two objectives.
Ottawa wants to defend Canadian economic interests and sovereignty without triggering unnecessary damage to an economy that remains closely connected to the United States.
For Trump, the challenge is different.
His administration is attempting to use tariffs and import restrictions as leverage against Canada while avoiding a disruption so severe that it harms American businesses and consumers.
The diplomatic dispute surrounding Ambassador Hoekstra adds another layer of tension.
More than 225,000 people have now signed a petition calling for his removal, but there is no indication that Ottawa has decided to take that step.
The Real “Nuclear Option”
Calling ambassadorial expulsion the “nuclear option” makes for a powerful political headline, but the reality is more complicated.
The legal mechanism is clear: Canada can declare a diplomat persona non grata without having to prove that the diplomat committed a crime.
The difficult part is the political calculation.
Expelling the U.S. ambassador would be an unmistakable escalation at precisely the moment when the two countries are already fighting over billions of dollars in trade.
It could strengthen Canada's message of resistance—or provoke Washington into an even harsher response.
For now, Ottawa has not pulled that trigger.
Instead, Canada has chosen economic retaliation, diplomatic pressure and efforts to diversify its international trade relationships.
But with the trade war escalating and the petition against Hoekstra attracting hundreds of thousands of signatures, the pressure on the Carney government is growing.
The next move could determine whether this remains a bitter trade dispute—or becomes one of the most serious diplomatic confrontations between Washington and Ottawa in decades.
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And the question now hanging over Canada is no longer whether Ottawa has the power to act.
It is whether Prime Minister Mark Carney is willing to use that power.
