Incoming Canadian prime minister Mark Carney says he’s ready to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump under the right circumstances and acknowledged the various concerns cited by the president for implementing tariffs on Canada in recent days.
Carney made the comments during a stop at a steel factory in Hamilton, Ont., on March 12, the same day universal 25 percent U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum came into force. Ottawa responded by announcing nearly $30 billion worth of tariffs on U.S. goods.
“Today is a difficult day for Canada, it’s a difficult day for the industry because of these unjustified tariffs that have been put on,” Carney said, while flanked by Transport Minister Anita Anand and Liberal MPs, including former leadership contender Karina Gould.
Carney said the revenue collected from Canada’s retaliatory tariffs would go towards supporting workers in affected industries. He also promised to “double down” on federal partnerships with industry.
Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs follow proclamations made in February in which he said the two materials are being imported into the United States in quantities that “threaten to impair the national security of the United States.” He has also campaigned on building back the U.S. industrial base.
Along with these most recent tariffs, Canada was also slapped with a broad 25 percent tariff in early March over Trump’s concerns about border security and fentanyl trafficking. The president has since granted temporary exemptions for goods covered by the United States-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) free trade deal.
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Carney said on March 11 his soon-to-be formed government would keep the nearly $30 billion in counter-tariffs in place “until the Americans show us respect.”
The former central banker, set to be appointed prime minister in the coming days, struck a more conciliatory tone on March 12.
“We understand, I understand, I respect President Trump’s concern for American workers and American families,” he said. “We respect his concern about fentanyl. It’s an issue for us here in Canada as well.”
Canada introduced several measures after Trump first threatened border-related tariffs in November. Ottawa promised to invest $1.3 billion over the coming years to boost border security, has appointed a “fentanyl czar,” and listed drug cartels as terrorist organizations.
Carney also said he’s ready to meet with Trump “at the appropriate time” and “under a position where there’s respect for Canadian sovereignty.”
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said on March 11 Trump had yet to talk with Carney, who won the Liberal leadership race in a landslide on March 9.
Washington Trip
While talks have yet to be scheduled between Trump and Carney, two Canadian ministers and a provincial premier are travelling to Washington this week to meet with top trade officials in the U.S. administration.
Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc, Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne, and Ontario Premier Doug Ford will visit the U.S. capital for talks with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
The meeting was announced by Ford and Lutnick after they had a call on March 11. Trump said earlier that day he would double the steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada to 50 percent in response to Ford putting a 25 percent surtax on electricity exports to three U.S. states.
Ford said he was pulling back the measure after talking with Lutnick, while Trump said he was also not following through with his threat.
“There’s a very strong man in Canada who said he was going to charge a surcharge or tariff on electricity coming into our country,” Trump commented to reporters on March 11. “He’s not going to do that. So I respect that.”
Ford told reporters he was “grateful for those comments” about being a “strong man” when asked about it on March 12. He added that it was Lutnick who had called him the day before to put out an “olive branch.”
Ford had met with Carney earlier that day before his trip to Washington and said the meeting went “very well.”
The day prior, Ford and Lutnick issued a joint statement saying there would be discussions in Washington about a “renewed USMCA ahead of the April 2 reciprocal tariff deadline.”
Finance Minister LeBlanc rejected the idea there would be USMCA free trade negotiations this week in the U.S. capital, when asked by reporters on March 12.
LeBlanc said the purpose of the meeting is to deal with the “completely unjustified” tariffs on steel and aluminum and to discuss “lowering the temperature” on the trade dispute.
