Trump takes aim at Canada's banking sector as tariffs loom
United States President Donald Trump is pushing for American banks to have an increased presence in Canada, a day before his proposed tariffs begin to impact Canadian goods.
“Canada doesn’t even allow U.S. banks to open or do business there. What’s that all about?” he said in a post on Truth Social, a social media platform, on Monday. “Many such things, but it’s also a DRUG WAR, and hundreds of thousands of people have died in the U.S. from drugs pouring through the borders of Mexico and Canada.”
He also said he had “just spoke” to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and that he was scheduled to speak to him again later in the day.
Domestic banks, led by the Royal Bank of Canada, dominate the Canadian market, but U.S. banks already have a presence in the country. For example, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. employs 600 people with teams in Calgary, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, according to its website. Similarly, Citibank Inc. in 2019 celebrated 100 years in Canada.
U.S. banks are also members of the Canadian Bankers Association, which represents more than 60 banks.
The CBA said U.S. banks make up half of all foreign banking assets in Canada, with 16 subsidiaries and branches worth around $113 billion in assets. These banks provide financial services, such as corporate and commercial lending, treasury services, credit card products, investment banking and mortgage financing, it said.
Trump has provided several reasons in the past few months for his decision to impose a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian goods and a 10 per cent levy on Canadian energy, including illegal migration, drug smuggling and a supposedly huge trade deficit between the two countries. But this is the first time he has been critical about Canada’s banking system.
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