U.S. President Donald Trump’s top economic adviser is accusing Canada’s law enforcement agencies of not taking enough action on fentanyl labs, while reiterating previous comments from the U.S. administration that the tariffs put on Canada are part of a “drug war, not a trade war.”
“I can tell you that in the Situation Room, I’ve seen photographs of fentanyl labs in Canada that the law enforcement folks were leaving alone. Canada’s got a big drug problem, even in their own cities,” U.S. National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said during an interview on ABC News on March 9.
Hassett said the White House has also seen intelligence indicating that Mexican cartels are operating in Canada. He also pushed back against Canadian officials’ repeated comments that Canada only accounts for less than 1 percent of fentanyl entering the United States, calling the country a “major source” of the drug. He did not provide specific data on the amounts of fentanyl entering the United States from Canada. U.S. border authorities have said 43 pounds entered the country from Canada in fiscal 2024.
Ottawa has announced actions to tackle drug smuggling and illegal immigration in recent months in an attempt to stave off 25 percent tariffs from the United States, as Trump has tied the tariffs to border security. On March 4, Trump went ahead with the tariffs on Canada and Mexico, arguing they had not done enough on fentanyl.
However, Trump paused some of the tariffs later in the week, signing two executive orders on March 6 that suspended 25 percent tariffs on both countries for one month on exports compliant with the United States-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement. Around 38 percent of Canadian goods fall into that category.
In December 2024, Ottawa announced a $1.3 billion border security package that included the creation of a new North American task force targeting organized crime and synthetic drug trafficking, as well as 24/7 border surveillance. Canada was able to secure a one-month pause on the tariffs in early February by promising to appoint a “fentanyl czar,” designate drug cartels as terrorist organizations, and commit $200 million for intelligence operations to combat fentanyl.
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Canadian law enforcement has also made several large fentanyl busts in recent months, including a “superlab” in Falklands, B.C., in October that contained 54 kilograms of fentanyl and a large volume of precursor chemicals.
Canadian officials have cast doubt on the Trump administration’s claims that the 25 percent tariffs are solely related to fentanyl and illegal immigration. On March 4, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested Trump is using tariffs to collapse Canada’s economy to facilitate its “annexation.”
Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly also said on March 5 that fentanyl was a “bogus excuse on the part of the Trump administration against us,” saying the United States is a net exporter of illegal drugs and migrants into Canada.
In addition to the 25 percent tariffs the United States has linked to the border, Trump plans to place reciprocal tariffs on Canadian lumber and dairy products in March, with wider reciprocal tariffs on all countries coming into effect on April 2. The United States has also planned 25 percent steel and aluminum tariffs for Canada.
