Donald Trump says Canada’s currency imbalance ‘unacceptable’

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Donald Trump seemingly has a new irritant in the trade dispute with Ottawa: The Canadian dollar.

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The U.S. president took to social media on Sunday to complain about the cost of the loonie when compared to the U.S. greenback, claiming that the imbalance is “unacceptable.

“It has been that way for years — but no longer!” Trump said on his Truth Social platform on Sunday without clarifying what he meant.

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Dollar hasn’t been at par in 13 years

The Canadian dollar was trading on Sunday at about $0.7229 US and has generally been in the $0.72 to $0.75 range over the last five years, peaking at about $0.8114 on Oct. 20, 2021, according to Wise.com.

The last time the Canadian dollar was at par with the U.S. dollar was in January 2013, according to OFX’s historical exchange rate chart, the end of a six-year stretch where the loonie mostly kept pace with the greenback.

The fluctuations are the result of the floating nature of the currencies, which are at the whim of things like supply and demand, foreign exchange markets, inflation and interest rates.

A low Canadian dollar means Americans have more spending power when it comes to purchasing Canadian products.

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Trade dispute continues to escalate

Regardless, the Canadian dollar was the latest target of Trump amid a tit-for-tat trade dispute that seemingly hit a cliff last month when the U.S. levied punishing 50% tariffs on $28 billion worth of Canadian goods.

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Canada has responded in kind with tariffs set to go into effect on Tuesday — ranging from 15% to 50% — targeting nearly $28 billion worth of American imports, including steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper and electronics.

Since trade talks ended, Trump has lashed out on his social media platform by claiming Canada is one of the “worst abusers” when it comes to trade with the U.S. and that Canada has been “ripping us off for decades.”

He also signed an executive order renaming Lake Ontario as “Lake America,” which he rehashed with an image posted to social media on Sunday showing him scratching out “Ontario” on a map and scribbling “America” underneath.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has mostly ignored the jabs, although he hit back at the White House last week by saying that their attacks on social media were “not constructive” to the trade discussion.

“When the Americans stop doing memes, stop throwing shade, stop trying to be tough and start being serious about having those discussions, we can have those (trade) discussions,” he said in Ottawa on Sept. 1.

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