Prime minister Mark Carney will be closely watched by furious Canadians Donald Trump – and by an anxious business community looking for pricing relief – when he meets the American president on Tuesday in Washington.
After months of Trump’s annexation threats, the newly elected Prime Minister will be responsible for a delicate balance – showing strength while maintaining the Place de Canada in a critical North American commercial pact that the president’s rates sought to upset.
“My government will fight to get the best offer for Canada,” Carney said on Friday at his first press conference since the elections.
The Canada-UXXICO Agreement on Trade, called CUSMA, was negotiated during the first Trump administration. Trump at the time called her the best business of all time and Canadian officials said it was a victory for Canada.
CUSMA is reviewing next year – but after Trump’s return to the White House, it quickly became clear that the president intended to shake the continental trade pact.
Canada and Mexico were struck early with prices that the president is linked to the flow of fentanyl and people through borders. US government data shows that a tiny volume of fentanyl is intercepted on the border of the United States-Canada. The two countries have also been affected by Trump’s tasks, aluminum, aluminum and car.
Trump’s provocations included the appeal of the Minister of Primordial of the time, Justin Trudeau, a “governor” and to say that the country would be better as an American state.
While the tasks would have the neighbors closest to America, signs appeared that the president still values Cusma – a key achievement of his first administration.
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When Trump took his trade war in the world with “reciprocal” prices in early April, Canada and Mexico were not included. Trump has the most important break of these tasks for 90 days, saying that it would allow to negotiate agreements, but maintained a universal rate of 10% on most imports in the United States
“If you read tea leaves, Canada and Mexico seem to have been put aside … I hope it means that the administration will consider (CUSMA) as a package,” said Laura Dawson, expert in Canadian-American relations and executive director of the future Borders Coalition.
Tuesday’s meeting could give an overview of Trump’s plan for one of the most stable and most friendly bilateral relations in the world. Trump last week described Carney as “a very nice gentleman” and said he expected to have a “good relationship” with Canada.
The US trade representative Jamieson Greer suggested that the Trump administration wanted to maintain partnerships with its close neighbors. Greer told Fox News last week that “the president wanted to have a healthy relationship in North America”.
“We should have more manufacturing in North America – we must have it in our hemisphere,” said Greer.
But it’s still not clear what Trump’s team wants from Canada.
Speaking of negotiations with other countries, Greer has described a “good deal” like the one that sees countries lowering price levels and eliminating non -tariff obstacles on things like American agricultural products. He said a good deal would respond to American concerns about digital trade and intellectual property, align export controls for economic security and offer US commercial opportunities, including investments in critical minerals.
CUSMA has provided a price without a price for almost all goods between Canada and the United States. The US Department of Defense and Ottawa already co-invest in Canadian critical mineral projects. Canada has imposed prices on Chinese electric vehicles, steel and aluminum, in part to appease American concerns.
Steve Verheul, the former Canadian commercial negotiator, recently said at the top of the growth for the public policies forum that the current atmosphere was similar to tensions during the first Trump administration after the President torn the North American free trade agreement, which was replaced by CUSMA.
Verheul said that the United States has advanced “very extreme, completely unacceptable” proposals, but that Canada has finally sailed in the situation by being creative and providing solutions.
Although Canada once again finds extreme proposals, Verheul said he saw Trump signs back down. The president has repeatedly postponed prices to Canada. As he walked up with the tasks in March, he partially brought them back for imports in accordance with the CUSMA rules a few days later.
Trump has also reduced the impact of prices on the North American automotive sector.
Verheul said Canada was “difficult to negotiate”, but he thinks there will be a trade franchise trade.
Canada must show a unified front in its talks with the administration, said Dawson. Trump has already taken note of the victory of the liberal minority and said that the “tight race” would make it “very complicated for the country”.
Dawson said Carney should form a multi -party trade front. During the first Trump administration, the Ottawa Alena Inter-Party Advisory Panel included Rona Ambrose, the former interim conservative chief.
“There must be a strong conservative representation, a strong regional representation, a strong sectoral representation,” said Dawson.
Carney will have to be strategic, she said. Canadian companies want to make a place for economic growth in Canada and the United States, but the Prime Minister cannot suggest that everything is forgiven, Dawson added.
“There is still a lot of animosity in Canada,” she said. “It will be difficult to manage a short-term crisis … with the United States as well as a long-term competitiveness challenge for Canada’s domestic economy.”
& Copy 2025 the Canadian press