9-22-26: Is Canada Splitting Up – or Joining the European Union?

by Louis Navellier

September 22, 2026

A Wall Street Journal report said Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney is now seeking full membership in the European Union (EU) in a bold move to resolve its trade spat with the U.S. This is clearly an act of desperation, so it will be interesting to see if the EU welcomes Carney’s overtures. If the EU welcomes Canada as an “associate member” of the EU, Carney would adopt EU tariffs and ignore existing tariffs with the U.S. I am sure President Trump is furious with Carney threatening to leave North America for a safer haven in Europe and will put pressure on the EU to stay out of America’s current spat with Canada.

Secession threats cut both ways, as Alberta is in the midst of a secession movement to become an independent country and Saskatchewan could follow. The EU’s Net Zero goal by 2050 is devastating Alberta and Saskatchewan, since fossil fuels and chemical fertilizers would be banned under the EU’s climate goals. If Canada joins the EU and Brussels imposes its strict EU rules on Canada, these provinces may even become U.S. states, as President Trump would be happy to offer statehood to these provinces.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen gave a speech to the European Parliament last week calling for “opening the door” to Canada becoming the EU’s first associate member. Specifically, she said Europe needs to tighten its cooperation with like-minded democracies in “an openly hostile world.”

Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney was in the audience for her speech. She concluded by saying to Carney, “I would like to work with you on opening the door for Canada to be the first associate member of the EU.” Since the EU has 27 members, admitting Canada would likely take some time. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz floated the idea of associate membership for Ukraine back in May, so giving an associate membership to Canada but not Ukraine might delay some key EU nations from acting on Canada’s submission. Furthermore, President Trump described Canada’s attempt to become an associate member of the EU as a “hostile act” and threatened to impose “very serious tariffs” on the eurozone.

During President Trump’s visit to Ireland, just before the trophy ceremony at the Irish Open, won by Irish golfer Shane Lowry, he said the U.S. plans to rescind tariffs on Irish whisky. At the Trump International Golf Links in Doonbeg, at the end of his speech, President Trump said, “On behalf of the United States of America, I am going to take the (10%) tariffs off of Irish whiskey.” According to the Irish Whiskey Association, the U.S. is the biggest export market for Irish whiskey and accounts for one-third of global sales. Interestingly, effective on September 29^th, President Trump banned the imports of whiskey from Canada. Clearly, world leaders are trying to court President Trump – if they want to do business in the U.S.

After the recent rate hikes by the ECB and the Fed, more central banks are expected to follow suit and raise their key interest rates. Interestingly, the Bank of England did not raise its key interest rate last week. Specifically, B-of-E Governor Andrew Bailey said the global energy shock has so far had a limited effect on prices and wages in Britain. However, Bailey added, “The longer this volatility persists, the bigger the impact it will have on inflation, and the more likely it is we will need to raise (our) Bank rate.”

Speaking of the global energy shock, Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries, plus the Houthis’ attacks on Saudi Arabian oil facilities have caused diesel and jet fuel prices to soar. Saudi Arabia closed its pipeline to the Red Sea due to Houthi drone attacks. The Houthis are also occupying islands in the Red Sea and tormenting Saudia Arabia. Two European oil refiners have been notified by Saudi Arabia they will not receive any crude oil in October due to Red Sea pipeline shutdowns. In the meantime, more crude oil is traveling through the Strait of Hormuz, so Iran’s attempted attacks on the U.S. Navy and oil tankers have been futile. Container ships are also traversing the Strait of Hormuz, which is great for world commerce.

Don’t Fall for Chinese-Fueled AI Warnings

Over 200 Chinese bots have been planting false stories about AI and data centers to slow America’s AI momentum. These Chinese bots are also designed to interfere with the midterm elections and might explain why President Trump is so passionate about squelching bogus AI rumors. Interestingly, President Trump also said, “The people that say AI is going to destroy the World” are the same ones warning about climate change. On Truth Social, President Trump rejected calls from leading AI executives for new limits on the technology, saying, “There is a SICK conspiracy going on against AI and Data Centers, and the only one that is happy about it is China. WHOEVER WINS AI, WINS! We are leading China, and all others, and will continue to do so. Conspiracy Theorists, Treasonists, Traitors, and Leakers, BEWARE!”

The latest “AI doomsday” sell-off – based on warnings about AI killing humans – is ridiculous. The order backlogs for data centers are huge and will not stop, as these backlogs now extend well into 2032. President Trump dismissed AI safety concerns as a “hoax” that would give China the upper hand in developing AI.

Obviously, as investors, we need to decide if we want to be manipulated by false narratives, mostly planted by Chinese bots, and the fake narratives being spread leading up to the midterm elections.

I’ll bet these fake AI and data center narratives will diminish after the midterm elections, since they are being used to try to swing key congressional elections. The other good news is the lack of any analyst downgrade or guidance cuts for the AI and data center related stocks I recommend. I did note that when some of the AI and data center-related stock were briefly hit last week, buying pressure rotated into cybersecurity stocks. President Trump actually called Nvidia’s Jensen Huang when he was on a panel and Jensen put him on a speaker phone so folks could hear President Trump vent about the false AI and data center propaganda being spread on CNBC and other media that are trying to influence midterm elections.

It’s quite an entertaining encounter, with the President teasing Jensen Huang for building the world’s greatest chips that “nobody in the world can copy for 10 years,” but he can’t figure out how to put the President of the United States on speaker phone. It’s only five minutes long.

Meanwhile, Chen Yixin, the head of China’s Ministry of State Security, said in an article that AI poses a direct threat to the Chinese Communist Party’s hold on power. Specifically, in the state-run magazine China Cyberspace, Chen called for more party control over AI and stricter government oversight.

Chen said this was necessary: (1) to protect political stability at home; (2) to defend against increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks and misinformation campaigns from “hostile forces,” and (3) to compete militarily with countries like the U.S. Frankly, I think this is a clear sign China is losing the AI race with America and so is calling for more regulation to try to slow down AI development. In the meantime, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg have dismissed all such calls to curtail AI research.

The U.S. Economy is Strong – As Chairman Warsh Said Last Week

In his statement last week, Kevin Warsh focused more on the economy than on interest rates, saying, “The American economy appears to be strengthening. New hiring, private-sector earnings, business capital investment—each of these markers has improved in recent months and is pointing in a good direction.”

The economic data released last week tend to support his optimistic view. On Wednesday, the Commerce Department announced August retail sales surging 1.2% (month-over-month), well above the economists’ estimates of a 0.8% increase. Also, 12 of 13 categories surveyed reported expanding in August. Online sales soared 2.6% in August and, not surprisingly, gas station sales rose 3.1% due to higher prices at the pump. Sales at bars and restaurants also rose by 1.2%. Auto sales rose 0.6% in August. Excluding autos and gas stations, “core” retail sales rose by a healthy 1.2%, reflecting a strong trend in consumer spending.

In the wake of these strong retail sales, the Atlanta Fed raised its third-quarter GDP estimate up to a 5.1% annual pace, so my prediction of 5% GDP growth last December may finally come to fruition!

The best line I heard last week was that America innovates (creates great companies), while China replicates (copies stolen technology) and Europe regulates (via the EU bureaucracy). We are truly blessed to live in America, where innovation and risk taking are rewarded. As the third quarter draws to a close and many of our fundamentally superior stocks benefit from quarter-end window dressing, I expect our stocks will naturally benefit, since they are characterized by stunning forecasted sales and earnings.

For example, Bloom Energy (BE) is being added to the S&P 500 on September 21^st, so I assume it will benefit from wave after wave of institutional buying pressure. I also expect BE will be less volatile, since once a stock is added to the S&P 500, institutional investors tend to stick with it, stabilizing the stock.

Navellier & Associates; own Nvidia (NVDA) in managed accounts. Some accounts own Meta Platforms Inc Class A (META) per client request. Louis Navellier and his family own Nvidia (NVDA) via a Navellier managed account and Nvidia (NVDA) in a personal account. They do not own Meta Platforms Inc Class A (META) personally.