U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to impose tough new tariffs on Canadian products, accusing them of directly causing air pollution that has covered large areas of the northeastern United States, including the vicinity of New York City, which is preparing to host Sunday's World Cup final.
In a post on his digital platform "Truth Social", Trump said that the United States is being subjected to an unjustified invasion of dirty, polluted and unhealthy air, pledging to communicate with the Canadian side to find out what measures Ottawa intends to take to contain the crisis, and threatened to impose additional tariffs on Canadian products, accusing the authorities there of "deliberate negligence" in managing the forest fires file, and failing to implement basic operations to preserve forest cover and dispose of plant waste to reduce the outbreak of fires.
The latest data from the Canadian Joint Wildfire Centre, released on Saturday, July 18, revealed that there are about 950 active fires across Canada, confirming that many of them are still completely out of control, especially in the eastern province of Ontario, and dense clouds of smoke rising from these fires, as well as northern Minnesota, have caused widespread air quality warnings to be issued in various parts of the United States.
Smoke clouds envelop American cities, New York distributes masks
Thick plumes of smoke have led to the city of Detroit topping the list of the most polluted cities in the world, according to the air quality monitoring website "IQ Air", while the cities of Washington and Chicago have approached the same dangerous levels of pollution, prompting local authorities to call on residents to stay indoors and not go out unless absolutely necessary, and the effects of the smoke have spread to New York, where the features of Manhattan's skyscrapers have disappeared behind its dense fog.
Local authorities in New York City announced the start of distributing masks free of charge at transit stations and public offices, while the states of Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin recorded dangerous levels of air quality, forcing many residents to wear masks when going out, and the US Meteorological Service predicted that the smoke intensity is likely to increase again, pointing out that the northwest winds will push some of the smoke towards the northeast of the country.
Canadian Emergency Management Minister Eleanor Ojewski confirmed in official statements that her country and the United States are in constant communication to follow up on developments, noting that there is a long history of cooperation in fighting wildfires between the two countries, and Ogiewski explained that Canada has invested about $12 billion since 2020 in protecting forests and strengthening fire prevention measures to reduce these phenomena.
Air pollution threatens the atmosphere of the World Cup final between Argentina and Spain
The 2026 FIFA World Cup final, which brings Argentina and Spain together on Sunday at an open stadium in New Jersey, has been overshadowed by the pollution crisis, and the executive director of the White House World Cup task force, Andrew Giuliani, said organisers were closely following the situation, while the official implementation of the tournament included recommendations for fans to stay indoors as much as possible or wear masks when necessary.
Peter Mullinks, an expert at the National Weather Service, said that the forecast does not indicate that the air quality on Sunday deteriorates at the level witnessed in the region during the past days, explaining that the atmosphere during the match may remain only foggy, while the air quality specialist cooperating with the state of Maryland authorities, Joel Driessen, indicated that the path of smoke in the coming days will depend on the impact of the thunderstorms expected at the end of the week.
Chris Carlstein, a researcher at the University of British Columbia who specializes in studying the health effects of wildfire smoke, warned that the fine particles produced by forest fires mainly affect the lungs, indicating that smoke plumes not only carry tree residues, but also contain particles of paint, plastic, and metals that undergo chemical reactions that make them more toxic, while Paul Mathewson, director of scientific programs at Clean Wisconsin, linked the frequency of these waves to climate change that has led to warming of the air Reduced soil moisture and conditions for longer fire seasons led to the evacuation of a number of remote Canadian towns.