No Tax Exemption! FIFA World Cup Final Threatened by Canadian Wildfire Smoke; Trump Slams and Threatens Tariffs

With the FIFA World Cup final approaching this Sunday (19th), the stadium in New Jersey is shrouded in heavy smoke from Canadian wildfires. Ongoing fires have caused smoke to drift southward, prompting air quality alerts across multiple U.S. states in the Midwest and Northeast. Major cities including New York and Washington, D.C. are experiencing severe pollution, casting uncertainty over the final match expected to draw over 80,000 spectators onsite and another 50,000 watching live in Manhattan’s Central Park.

In response, U.S. President Trump sharply criticized Canada last Friday (17th) for poor forest management, claiming the wildfire smoke causes "billions of dollars" in annual damage to the U.S. He threatened to impose additional tariffs on Canadian imports to offset these losses.

This statement comes at a delicate moment for the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). Earlier this month, U.S. Trade Representative Grillo stated the White House would not renew the 2020 version of the agreement, opting instead for rolling negotiations. If no consensus is reached among the three nations, the agreement will automatically terminate in 2036. It remains unclear what legal basis the Trump administration has to levy tariffs specifically for wildfire smoke.

According to Canada’s Wildland Fire Information System, as of last Friday (17th), over 890 active fires were burning across Canada, with more than 190 in Ontario alone—some of which are out of control. The total burned area this year has reached nearly 3 million hectares. Smoke has driven air quality index (AQI) levels to "hazardous" in cities like Detroit, Michigan, and Chicago, Illinois. New York and Washington, D.C. have also been ranked among the world’s most polluted cities.

The European Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) reported that smoke has significantly degraded air quality across much of Canada and the northeastern U.S. New York State issued an "unhealthy" air quality alert last Thursday (16th).

CAMS senior scientist Mark Parrington warned that dense smoke from major fire zones like Ontario continues to affect the Great Lakes and northeastern U.S., and could even cross the North Atlantic to reach Europe—highlighting the transboundary scale of the pollution.

CAMS estimates that in 2023, PM2.5 pollution from Canadian wildfires exposed approximately 345 million people across North America and Europe, linked to around 70,400 premature deaths. Should extreme air pollution occur during the World Cup final, organizers may face a difficult dilemma between spectator safety and match continuity. Currently, U.S. and FIFA officials are closely monitoring air quality conditions.