U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday raised the possibility of new tariffs on Canada over hazardous wildfire smoke and on Mexico over concerns about "problematic lettuce".
Massive wildfires have been burning across Canada this summer, and wildfire smoke from Ontario has recently drifted southward across the border, degrading air quality across multiple regions of the United States.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump threatened "a big tariff on Canada" because of the smoke.
In a separate development, U.S. health authorities are investigating a nationwide cyclosporiasis outbreak tied to fresh produce. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday that it had documented over 4,000 lab-confirmed cyclosporiasis cases since May, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) suspected that the outbreak might be related to imported lettuce from Mexico.
When asked whether lettuce would be safe to eat again as it is a possible source of the recent outbreak, Trump responded that "I think what we're going to do is put a major tariff on Mexico because of the lettuce."
Mexico's Health Minister David Kershenobich has said that there is no evidence to indicate that lettuce sourced in Mexico caused the outbreak of cyclosporiasis in the United States.
Trump threatens tariffs on Canada over wildfire smoke, Mexico over lettuce
