Prime Minister Mark Carney said he will speak with U.S. President Donald Trump when it “makes sense,” four days after the recently passed trade deal deadline.
Carney made the comments while speaking with reporters in British Columbia on Tuesday following Trump’s announcement that the U.S. would
increase tariffs on Canadian imports to 35 per cent on all goods not covered under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement.
“Canada is the second-largest investor in the United States today in the world. We have 40 million people. That puts in context the state of the relationship,” said Carney. “Without an agreement, there will be less by definition.”
Trump signed an executive order raising tariffs from 25 to 35 per cent on select Canadian goods, effective Thursday, citing fentanyl trafficking and long-standing trade loopholes.
Trump has also railed against Canada’s
supply managementsystem.
Carney responded to the increase in tariffs by warning that Canadian investment in the U.S. is among the highest in the world and may decline if poor trade relations persist.
“We’ll speak when it makes sense,”
said Carney, saying that he’s in no rush to negotiate as the CUSMA trade deal allows Canada to have tariff-free access to 85 per cent of what the country currently exports south of the border.
Carney also noted that the agreement will soon be up for review in “about nine months from now.”
However, Carney
allegedly called Trump numerous times on July 31, right before the deadline, but the president ignored his calls.
There is speculation that Trump’s refusal to answer Carney’s calls was in response to Canada’s decision to
recognize Palestinian statehood, which Trump warned would make a deal “very hard.”
Carney was in B.C. to announce $1.2 billion in support for its softwood lumber industry, and to promote the idea of doing more business domestically.
Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc told reporters last week that he spoke with his Mexican counterpart about beginning CUSMA renewal negotiations “as early as this fall.”
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand and Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne are currently in Mexico for a series of trade meetings, which will include Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.
truenorthwire.com
