Brazeau issues challenge against president’s “phony tariffs” and argues that they are really meant to control Canadian resources, not to stop fentanyl

Don JR. / Ansa

 Time: 1 min read

Canadian Senator Patrick Brazeau has issued a challenge to Don Trump Jr.: a charity boxing match against the “phony tariffs” imposed by his father, Donald Trump. “I don’t smoke anymore and I’ve been sober for almost 5 years, so yes, I’m really doing it,” Brazeau wrote on X, recalling that he had already fought (and lost) to Justin Trudeau in 2012. Brazeau ironizes, “No need for war, we can fight for charity.” “I challenge you to fight to raise money for cancer research or an organization of your choice,” the senator added.

Specifically, Brazeau refers to the fact that tensions between the United States and Canada escalated in recent weeks when Trump imposed a 25 percent tariff on goods from Mexico and Canada, along with 10 percent on Chinese goods. In addition, Trump specified that “all three countries needed to work harder to curb batch trade in fentanyl coming across the border.”

However, just Thursday, the U.S. president said in an abrupt reversal that he was halting tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada covered by the U.S.-Mexico-Canada 2020 Agreement (USMCA). But that suspension will last for a short time, until April 2.

Meanwhile, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that after April 2, “tariff agreements can be made, and he hopes that ”Mexico and Canada at that point, have done a good job on fentanyl trade.”

However, Canadian Senator Brazeau pointed out in this regard that “tariffs have nothing to do with the influx of fentanyl into the United States.” Rather, they would serve to control Canadian resources, and in that sense, he added, “ they have to do with our oil, fresh water, minerals, resources, and our Arctic, just to name a few.”