U.S. homeland security secretary says Canada relationship is 'fracturing'
Markwayne Mullin warns that tariffs and border tensions threaten security cooperation as U.S. shifts focus northward.
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U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said Wednesday that the "fracturing" relationship between Canada and the United States needs immediate repair to ensure security in both countries, arguing that crackdowns on Mexican drug cartels have pushed criminal activity toward America's northern border.
"Some of the fracturing we have right now between the countries, we've got to figure it out because we're not going anywhere and they're not going anywhere," Mullin said during a discussion with Canada's Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree in Washington. "And so what we have to do is quit focusing on our differences and start thinking about what we have in common."
The Canada-U.S. relationship has been strained since President Donald Trump imposed tariffs and issued threats of annexation. Trump declared an emergency at the northern border last year to justify tariffs, citing fentanyl flows—though U.S. government data shows minimal fentanyl seizures at the Canadian border compared to Mexico.
Canada responded with legislation and funding to boost border security, but tariffs remained until the U.S. Supreme Court struck them down earlier this year. Trump replaced them with a 10 per cent global tariff under Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act, which excludes goods compliant under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA). That duty expires after 150 days unless Congress extends it.
The Trump administration is now launching investigations into forced labour in supply chains, including Canadian ones, seeking longer-term tariff justification.
Mullin said geography presents both challenges and opportunities for collaboration. He claimed the Trump administration's southern border crackdown has cartels looking north. "The biggest concern we see is what's happening on our southern border being pushed up to our northern border."
Canadian officials acknowledge fentanyl challenges but describe it as largely a domestic issue. The RCMP has not yet responded to requests about increasing Mexican cartel presence in Canada.
Anandasangaree countered that irregular migration from Canada into the U.S. has decreased by 99 per cent and that "we know drugs are down." Both officials pointed to cooperation on border security and successful joint law enforcement operations, including the arrest of former Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding, now a drug trafficker, and seven others.