Why Trump Looking at Canada’s wealth of critical minerals

Canada is rich in nearly three dozen critical minerals that are essential to modern technology and produce more than 60 minerals and metals, including nickel, potash, aluminum and uranium.

Deposits are strands across the country, which has a landmass that is as large as all of Europe and only number two to Russia. Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, is rich in nickel, chromite and copper. Quebec has lithium, rare earth metals and graphite.

British Columbia has copper, molybdenum and niobium. Prairie Provinces-Saskatchewan and Manitoba-Has Ultra High Quality Uranium and Potash. Much of this material ends in the United States, which was the largest buyer of Canada’s critical minerals in 2023.

Since his November election, Trump has repeatedly said that Canada could avoid tariffs by becoming the 51st state. His steps to lower his initial customs threats against raw materials in January – which called for 10 percent on imports instead of 25 percent, as was most other Canadian goods – was a nod to the country’s dependence on its northern neighbor’s resources.

About a quarter of US uranium needs are met by giant mines in Saskatchewan, owned by companies such as Cameco Corp. More than 80 percent of us Potash comes from Canada, including from Nutrien Ltd. and approx. 70 percent of us aluminum is supplied by plants in Quebec and British Columbia.