WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump has justified tariffs on Canadian imports in part as a way to force Canada to crack down on smuggling and tighten security at the vast border. The neighbor to the north, he said, must “stop this invasion of our country” with “drugs and illegal aliens.”

Democratic Senators grilled President Trump’s ambassador nominees for Canada and Mexico during the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations hearing Thursday over the administration’s new trade policies,

Goods covered by the countries’ USMCA agreement get a reprieve, but levies remain in effect for many goods, including oil.

The man set to become America's top diplomat in Ottawa said Thursday that Canada is a sovereign state — contradicting U.S. President Donald Trump, who is doubling down on his calls to make Canada a U.