Trump Sows Confusion After Suggesting Canadians ‘Smuggle’ Shoes From the US

Following his announcement of additional tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods, President Donald Trump is drawing even more discussion today on social media for comments he made at the National Federation of Independent Business’ 75th anniversary celebration in Washington, D.C., to honor America’s small businesses.

After touting his rising approval numbers and discussing immigration laws, Trump suggested that Canadians are illegally moving U.S. goods, particularly footwear, across the border into Canada to avoid tariffs — which the president said were “so high, they have to smuggle them in.”

“They buy shoes, and they wear them. They scuff them up to make them sound old, look old,” Trump remarked, prompting reporters, journalists and other media members to respond on Twitter with their own stances.

Trump is currently raging about people sneaking shoes into Canada by wearing them and "scuffing them up" so they look old.

SHOES.

— Caroline Orr Bueno, Ph.D (@RVAwonk) June 19, 2018

Canadians, please let me know if you've ever crossed the border to buy shoes and made them all dirty before going home so Canadian customs wouldn't notice that you're a smuggler

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) June 19, 2018

Trump, at small business conference, suggests Canada a nation of shoe smugglers who cross the border, buy shoes and “scuff them up,” before smuggling them across the border. #NAFTA

— Tim Harper (@nutgraf1) June 19, 2018

Since when is it illegal to buy shoes in the US?

— Arielle Piat-Sauvé (@arielleps) June 19, 2018

The controversial statement comes a couple weeks after the Trump administration hit allies Canada, Mexico and the European Union with taxes on steel and aluminum imports. At the most recent G-7 summit in Quebec, Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau engaged in a highly publicized conflict over trade policy, with the latter planning to impose retaliatory tariffs on $12.8 billion worth of U.S. goods.

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