Canada should become 51 US state? The controversial Trump statement verified in fact

Montreal: US President Donald Trump has defended the proposed tariffs for Canadian goods, claiming that they are needed to address migrants and drug trafficking problems. He also described cross -border trade as an American subsidy and suggested that Canada will not be “viable as a country” without economic connections with the United States. Moreover, he reiterated his opinion that Canada should become the 51st US state.

However, according to reports, many of Trump’s statements about the economy, Canada’s commercial relationship and border security are inaccurate or exaggerated. The official data contradicts his claims on commercial deficits, American banks and illegal drugs and migrants from Canada.

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Claim: Canada receives 95 percent of its US products

Trump said Canada receives 95 percent of his “product” in the United States. However, the data in statistics Canada contradict this statement.

In 2024, 62.2 percent of total imports from Canada came from the United States, according to the Federal Agency. The economist of the University of Toronto, Joseph Steinberg, stressed that “a lot of what Canadian consumers buys are produced internally”, which means that the 95 percent figure only makes sense if Trump referred exclusively to imports.

“If we focus on imports, the US represents 95 percent? Not really, although it is a really big number,” Steinberg said.

Canada statistics also reported that 75.9 percent of Canada’s exports were in the United States last year, emphasizing the strong, but not exclusive commercial relationship between the two nations.

Claim: US have a commercial deficit of $ 200-250 billion with Canada

Trump also claimed that the United States has a $ 200 billion commercial deficit to $ 250 billion with Canada. However, this figure is significantly swollen.

Data from the representative of the US trade and US Census Bureau put the real commercial deficit with Canada at $ 63.3 billion at the end of 2024. Meanwhile, Statistics Canada reported the US surplus to USD 102.3 billion (70.3 billion USD).

Steinberg mentioned that commercial deficits do not equate with subsidies, contradicting Trump’s assertion that the US financially supports Canada’s economy.

“International trade is a mutually beneficial transaction,” Steinberg explained.

“The United States pays Canada for products, would not pay Canada for these products if they didn’t consider it worth it in this case.”

A major factor in the commercial deficit is the acquisition of the US Canadian oil, he added.

Claim: American banks are not allowed to work in Canada

Trump has argued in socializing posts that “American banks are not allowed to do business in Canada.” However, this statement is false.

Foreign banks, including those in the US, are regulated by the Law of the Federal Bank of Canada. The Canadian association of bankers has confirmed that “there are 16 US banking branches and branches with about $ 113 billion in assets currently operating in Canada.”

Prominent US financial institutions, such as JP Morgan Chase, Citibank and Bank of America, have offices in the big Canadian cities.

Claim: a large number of migrants and fentanel flows in the US from Canada

Trump also stated that migrants without documents and fentanyl enters the United States in Canada in large numbers. However, available data does not accept this statement.

Kelly Sundberg, a criminologist at Mount Royal University in Calgary, said there is no widespread fentanyl smuggling evidence from Canada to US.

“The data shows less than a percentage of the killer opioid entering the United States came from Canada,” he said.

According to customs and borders in the US (CBP), out of over 21,800 kilograms (9,900 kilograms) of fentanyl intercepted by agents in fiscal year 2024, only 43 kilograms were confiscated near the Northern border.

Regarding illegal immigration, the CBP reported that the US border patrol agents have caught 23,721 people crossing from Canada in fiscal year 2024. In contrast, over 1.5 million migrants were encountered on the US-Mexico border during the same period.

Sundberg has argued that Canada is experiencing a greater threat from the US than the other way around when it comes to crime concerns.

“Canada is under a greater threat from the United States than in the United States are from Canada for most things – weapons, drugs (and) illegal immigrants,” he said.

He also mentioned that more relaxed drug laws in Canada could contribute to an exaggerated perception of drug smuggling.