Trump jokingly threatens tariffs on Mexican lettuce amid cyclosporiasis outbreak concerns

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump joked that he may impose fresh tariffs on Mexico over "the lettuce" and on Canada over "the smoke," referencing two issues that have affected Americans in recent weeks: a growing foodborne illness outbreak and wildfire smoke drifting south from Canada.

The remarks came during an Oval Office press conference on Friday, July 24, where Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy asked Trump when it would be "safe to eat lettuce again."

A real outbreak behind the joke

"I think we'll put a major tariff on Mexico because of the lettuce. And we'll put a big tariff on Canada because of the smoke," Trump said.

He went on to frame the wildfire smoke as a grievance with Ottawa, saying, "I've told Canada, they have to do something about it. We've never had this problem. All of a sudden we have this problem with Canada."

Trump also weighed the two irritants against each other in a lighter moment with Doocy, joking, "Which would you have that, the lettuce or the smoke? I think I'll take the smoke," to which Doocy replied that the smoke had "wrecked my daughter's swim meet."

Trump's comments came as federal health officials keep investigating a cyclosporiasis outbreak linked to contaminated produce that has made thousands of people sick nationwide.

A CDC update released that same day reported 4,173 lab-confirmed cases since May 1. There are around 7,400 additional unconfirmed cases, many in Michigan and Ohio.

The number of states reporting cases has risen to 41, although not all are necessarily part of the same outbreak. Cyclosporiasis, caused by the microscopic parasite Cyclospora, is known to lead to severe diarrhea.

In another matter, 1.6 million eggs have also been recalled in recent days, adding to a series of food safety reports.

Canadian wildfire smoke has repeatedly triggered air quality alerts

Canadian wildfire smoke has intermittently deteriorated air quality across the US in recent weeks, and this time is no different, with alerts issued across multiple parts of the country.

IQAir reported that rampant wildfires blanketing the atmosphere on July 15 left Toronto with the worst air pollution in the world that day, and New York City ranked fifth worst.

The trend is similar to a smoke emergency in 2023, when more than 9 million acres of Canadian forest burned and some 75 million people in the Midwest, Northeast and Southeast were under air-quality warnings.