White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said on Sunday he was hopeful a dispute with Canada over accusations of the deadly fentanyl opioid entering the U.S. across its northern border could be resolved by the end of March.
His comments on ABC News’s “This Week” raise the possibility that tariffs due to be reimposed by U.S. President Donald Trump at the end of the month could be stayed further.
In reality, Canada is responsible for a minuscule proportion of drug smuggling into the United States and it wasn’t immediately clear what progress Hassett was referring to.
Democratic U.S. Senator Adam Schiff from California, who appeared after Hassett on ABC, called the adviser’s comments “incomprehensible.”
As an American, I’m betting it is a ruse. I bet the real issue is Americans that get cheaper prescription drugs in Canada and Mexico. But, the administration would never admit that.
In 2024, the US seized 43 pounds of fentanyl coming from Canada. Nearly all of that was for personal use. There’s nothing more Canada needs to do. Right wing Americans are hopelessly deluded. And they wonder why Canadians are booing their anthem.
https://www.factcheck.org/2025/01/illegal-immigration-and-fentanyl-at-the-u-s-northern-and-southwest-borders/
Yes, the fact that we let exponentially more into Canada is why it can be considered a ruse. Because it’s bullshit.
Yup.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-police-cocaine-investigtion-1.7437364 … 835-kilogram (1841 lbs) of cocaine
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trump-complaints-drugs-guns-border-1.7457605 … Quantity of drugs seized by Canadian officials at U.S. border has doubled in 2 years
https://www.krtv.com/news/crime-and-courts/drug-bust-at-canada-u-s-border-cbsa-seizes-228kg-of-narcotics … 186kg (410 lbs) of methamphetamine and 42kg (93 lbs) of cocaine
Not to mention illegal firearms and migrants. I believe that in all cases, the contraflow is much worse.
I did read recently that the trade in illegal Canadian eggs being smuggled into the US is booming, however.