While much attention has been fixed on the southern border, a different kind of smuggling operation has been quietly thriving 5,500 miles to the north. And Canada’s failure to stop it is now a card the Trump administration is playing at the USMCA negotiating table. For too long, Canada has taken advantage of U.S. prosperity and security. President Donald Trump is ensuring the free ride ends. 

The illicit cigarette trade across the U.S.-Canada border is not some cottage industry run by petty criminals. It is a sophisticated, multibillion-dollar operation woven into the same criminal infrastructure that moves fentanyl, weapons, and stolen vehicles across the world’s longest international boundary. And for too long, Ottawa has looked the other way.

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Canada’s government recently documented a shadow economy so entrenched that contraband tobacco accounts for up to 52% of cigarette sales in New Brunswick, 45% in Manitoba, and 38% in Ontario. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police estimates that more than 50 illegal cigarette factories operate in Ontario and Quebec alone, supported by over 300 unregulated smoke shacks serving as distribution points.

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