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Published : 06 May 2025, 11:55 PM
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney visited the White House on Tuesday for his first talks with Donald Trump and bluntly told the US president that Canada would never be for sale.
Carney won the April 28 election on a promise to stand up to Trump, who has imposed tariffs on some Canadian products and often muses about annexing the country.
Although Carney has repeatedly called these actions a betrayal, the two leaders showed little animosity during an opening session at the Oval Office where both men praised each other.
Trump said the two sides would not be discussing Canada becoming part of the United States, but said it would be "a wonderful marriage."
Carney put down the idea firmly.
"It's not for sale, it won't be for sale - ever," he said.
"Never say never, never say never," Trump said.
Trump, whose tariff policy has rattled world markets, said he and Carney would discuss "tough points," an allusion to the president's belief that the United States can do without Canadian products, a point that he made at length during the Oval Office conversation.
"Regardless of anything, we're going to be friends with Canada. Canada is a very special place to me," he said, adding that the United States would always protect Canada.
Carney's Liberal Party promised voters it would create a new bilateral economic and security relationship with Washington and diversify an economy heavily dependent on exports to the US.
Ahead of the visit, Carney played down expectations of a breakthrough in the talks. Indeed, when Trump was asked if Carney could say anything to persuade him to lift tariffs, he replied, "No."
TRADE DEAL IN FOCUS
Carney's comments about a new economic relationship had cast into doubt the future of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which Trump signed during his first White House term but has distanced himself from. It is due to be reviewed in 2026.
Carney steered clear of suggesting a major revamp, saying only that some things about the pact needed to be changed, while Trump described the agreement as fine and great for all countries.
Trump had famously bad relations with Justin Trudeau, Carney's predecessor, and during the meeting criticised him and former Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland for how they negotiated the USMCA.
Despite the gulf between the two nations on key issues, the meeting never looked as though it would degenerate into the acrimonious exchanges that marked the visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on February 28.
"This is not going to be like we had another little blowup with somebody else," Trump said.
Greg MacEachern, principal at lobby group KAN Strategies and a former adviser to the Liberal government in the early 2000s, gave Carney high marks for his handling of Trump.
“I think Prime Minister Carney did what he needed to do, which was push back in a respectful Canadian way where he could without elevating the temperature and risking a rant that other world leaders have had to endure," he said.
Trump reiterated complaints about what he called the huge US deficit with Canada. He appeared to be referring to the US trade deficit with Canada, which is due mostly to American imports of Canadian oil, although Canada's merchandise trade surplus was C$102.3 billion ($74.25 billion) in 2024.
Carney, a 60-year-old ex-central banker with no previous political experience, was elected Liberal leader in March to replace Trudeau.
Canada is the US' second-largest individual trading partner after Mexico, and the largest export market for US goods. More than $760 billion in goods flowed between the two countries last year.
Ahead of the meeting, the US Commerce Department reported on Tuesday Canada's goods trade surplus with the US narrowed to a five-month low in March, the month when Trump's hefty tariffs on imported steel and aluminum took effect. Canadian exports to the US plunged by $3.7 billion, the second-largest drop on record.
Trump in March imposed a 25 percent tariff on all steel and aluminum imports and then slapped another 25 percent tariff on cars and parts that did not comply with a North American free trade agreement.
On Sunday, Trump said he would put a 100 percent tariff on all movies produced outside the US, without giving details, in a potential blow to Canada's film industry.
