Carney said he plans to tell the Trump that the two countries are “best served by cooperation and mutual respect,” including over Canada’s sovereignty.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said he expects to hold a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump in the next few days, and that Ottawa will respond to U.S. automotive tariffs with retaliatory trade actions at a later date.
“Last night, the president of the United States reached out to schedule a call. I appreciate this opportunity to discuss how we can protect our workers and build our economies,” Carney said on March 27.
Speaking to reporters following a meeting with his U.S.-Canada cabinet commitee, Carney said his upcoming conversation with Trump is likely to happen “in the course of the next day or two.” He said he plans to tell the U.S. president that the two countries are “best served by cooperation and mutual respect,” including over Canada’s sovereignty.
A day earlier, Trump announced he would be putting 25 percent tariffs on all imported cars and some car parts. The tariffs will apply to passenger vehicles and light trucks, as well as “key automobile parts” like engines, transmissions, and electrical components, according to a fact sheet by the White House.
Importers of automobiles under the United States-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement will be able to “certify their U.S. content,” thus allowing the 25 percent tariffs to only apply to the value of their non-U.S. content, the fact sheet said. Those automobile tariffs are set to take effect April 3, the day after the United States imposes reciprocal tariffs on its trading partners, while the tax on auto parts will begin by May 3.
Carney said Ottawa’s response to U.S. tariffs would come after the reciprocal tariffs have been put on all countries. “It doesn’t make sense, when there’s a series of U.S. initiatives that are going to come in relatively rapid succession, to respond to each of them,” he said.
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“We’re going to know a lot more in a week, and we will respond then.”
Carney said that Canada’s response would have “maximum impact in the United States and minimum impacts here in Canada.” When asked if Ottawa was considering putting export taxes on Canadian energy going to the United States, Carney said, “We have many, many options, and we will use them judiciously.”
Ontario Premier Doug Ford had announced on March 10 that a 25 percent surcharge would be applied to electricity exports to three American states, but Trump threatened to double tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum to 50 percent. Ford then suspended the surcharge a day after, following a call with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick; and in response, the United States kept the steel and aluminum tariffs at 25 percent.
Carney was also asked about Trump’s comments earlier in the day that he would place “large scale tariffs,” on Canada and the European Union if they worked together to “do economic harm” to the United States.
The Liberal leader said his government is focused on achieving the best results for Canada, and they would therefore choose their own allies. “We choose how we engage those allies. We are sovereign. So I take note of the president’s comment. I don’t take direction from it,” he said.
Carney added that Canada needed to prepare for a “drastically different world” where it can no longer rely on the United States. “The old relationship we had with the United States—based on deepening integration of our economies and tight security and military cooperations—is over,” he said.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks with reporters during a news conference in Ottawa on Jan. 9, 2025. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld
Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre said on March 26 that he condemns the U.S. tariffs, adding that Canada needs to become more self-reliant.
“We need to take drastic action to build an economic fortress in Canada, able to reach other markets around the world, repealing the anti-pipeline law, rapidly building LNG liquefaction plants, mines, factories, expanding and making our ports functional so that we can move our goods to other places around the world,” Poilievre said.
“Now is the time to take back control and relaunch our economy so that we can confront the president’s unjustified threats and tariffs in a position of strength. We will do this for our people, for our land, for our home, for Canada first—for a change.”
