Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Wednesday that Canada becoming a U.S. state is the “best way” to merge the two countries’ economies.
“The best way, the president has said it, the best way to actually merge the economies of Canada and the United States is for Canada to become our 51st state. If they want to merge it, that’s how you make it the 51st state,” Lutnick said on Fox Business Network’s “Varney & Co.”
Lutnick’s comments come amid recent tension between the U.S. and Canada over tariffs. On Tuesday, President Trump said he was going to raise planned steel and aluminum tariffs against Canada due to a surcharge on electricity from the Ontario government.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said later Tuesday that he would not go forward with the surcharge in the wake of an “olive branch” being offered by the U.S., which is a scheduled Thursday meeting with Lutnick.
Trump has previously suggested that Canada should “become the 51st state,” but Mark Carney, the soon-to-be prime minister of the U.S.’s neighbor to the north, said Sunday that “Canada never, ever will be part of America in any way, shape or form.”
“But think about this for a second, why are American cars made in Canada? … Those jobs should be in America. And that’s what the president thinks, and that’s what he says and that’s what he’s going to execute,” Lutnick said Wednesday.
“So the key point is, Canada’s going to have to work with us to really integrate their economy. And as the president said, they should consider the amazing advantages of being the 51st state of the United States of [America],” he added.
The Hill has reached out to Global Affairs Canada for comment.