Peter Navarro, senior counselor for trade and manufacturing for the Trump administration, threatened to redraw the U.S.-Canadian border on Thursday as tensions between the two nations rise amid a pending tariff war.
The Telegraph reported that Navarro used the reworking of border lines as negotiating tactic as Canada preps for a 25% tariff scheduled to go into effect Tuesday.
"Navarro recommended revising the Canada-U.S. border, which is just crazy and dangerous," a source familiar with the conversations told the outlet.
President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social on Thursday that the tariffs are a result of Canada's lax border security.
"Drugs are still pouring into our Country from Mexico and Canada at very high and unacceptable levels….We cannot allow this scourge to continue to harm the USA, and therefore, until it stops, or is seriously limited, the proposed TARIFFS scheduled to go into effect on MARCH FOURTH will, indeed, go into effect, as scheduled," Trump wrote.
Navarro, a confidant of Trump since his first administration, has riled the Canadian government to the point where it will no longer negotiate with the U.S. until incoming trade representative Jamieson Greer and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick can assume their positions.
Greer and Lutnick, recently confirmed as members of Trump's cabinet, are viewed by Canadians as being less extreme.
"The Canadians have told their people to hold off negotiating with the U.S. Government until Jameson Greer and Howard Lutnick are confirmed by the Senate and in post," the source told The Telegraph.
Navarro's presence in the negotiations and his close ties with Trump has left some staffers unwilling to challenge his antagonistic approach.
"Peter Navarro is in post, and he is taking advantage of being there by himself with no one else in post to challenge his extreme positions. This will change as soon as the many other trade and economic positions are filled," the source said.
Navarro on Tuesday dismissed the rumor that he had pushed for Canada to be removed from the Five Eyes intelligence alliance as payback for Canada's objection to Trump's tariffs. The Financial Times first reported the allegations, which Navarro slammed as something America "would never" do.
"My view is that we should never have to comment on any story where it's based on unnamed sources," he said, adding, "We would never, ever jeopardize our national security, ever, with allies like Canada, ever."
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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