US President Donald Trump said he spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and that the two would meet after Canada’s election, amid an intensifying tariff war between the neighboring allies and major trading partners.
“It was an extremely productive call, we agree on many things, and will be meeting immediately after Canada’s upcoming Election to work on elements of Politics, Business, and all other factors, that will end up being great for both the United States of America and Canada,” Trump said in a post to his social media platform on Friday.
Trump’s post called the Canadian leader “Prime Minister Carney” — a break from his practice of the past few months, when he repeatedly mocked Carney’s predecessor, Justin Trudeau, as “Governor Trudeau.”
Photo: AFP
Carney released a statement saying the two men agreed to start “comprehensive negotiations about a new economic and security relationship” after Canada’s national election on April 28.
However, the Canadian leader also reiterated that his government plans to put retaliatory tariffs in place after the US administration unveils its new import taxes on Wednesday, which Trump has billed “Liberation Day.”
In the meantime, US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and Canadian Minister of International Trade Dominic LeBlanc would “intensify” their talks to “address immediate concerns,” the prime minister’s office said.
The call between the two leaders was their first since Carney assumed Canada’s top political office on March 14. It came days after Trump announced a 25 percent tariff on imported cars and auto parts, which Carney called a “direct attack” on Canadian auto workers and a violation of the US-Mexico-Canada trade accord known as USMCA, which Trump negotiated during his first term in the White House.
Trump’s trade war against Canada and Mexico, along with repeated suggestions that Canada should become the 51st US state, have cratered ties between the two North American neighbors. The Canadian election campaign has turned into a contest in which US threats against Canada’s economy and sovereignty have become the dominant issue.
Carney told reporters that Trump respected Canada’s sovereignty during the call, which he characterized as “constructive” and “cordial.”
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