Canada PM Mark Carney dismisses Donald Trump’s tariff threat as posturing ahead of Canada-US trade agreement review

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney says some of US President Donald Trump’s threats should be viewed as prepositioning ahead of negotiations to renew the free trade pact between the two large trading partners.

Mr Carney noted they are entering a review of the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement this year and said he expects a “robust review”.

“The president is a strong negotiator, and some of these comments and positioning should be viewed in the broader context of that,” Mr Carney said on Monday.

Mr Trump threatened on the weekend to impose a 100 per cent tariff on goods imported from Canada if America’s northern neighbour went ahead with a trade deal with Beijing, though Mr Carney has said Canada has no interest in negotiating a comprehensive trade deal with Beijing.

Dominic LeBlanc, Canada’s minister responsible for Canada-US Trade, said he spoke with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Sunday and made it clear that the Canadians are negotiating a “narrow trade arrangement” with China that mostly deals with just “a few sectors of our economy”.

He compared that to an agreement Mr Trump made with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea last northern summer, in which the US cut some tariffs on China while Beijing moved to allow rare earth exports and lift a pause on purchasing US soy.

Mr LeBlanc also said upcoming talks were a review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement and not a full-scale renegotiation of trade as happened during Mr Trump’s first term.

Breaking with the US this month during a visit to Beijing, Carney cut its 100 per cent tariff on Chinese electric cars in return for lower tariffs on those Canadian products.

Mr Trump’s tariff threat came amid an escalating war of words with Mr Carney as the president’s push to acquire Greenland strained the NATO alliance.

Mr Carney has emerged as a spokesman for a movement for countries to find ways to link up and counter the US under Mr Trump.

“Middle powers must act together because if you are not at the table, you are on the menu,” Mr Carney said in Davos.