Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is visiting the White House for the second time in five months to deal with increasing pressure to address our tariffs on steel, cars and other goods that are hurting Canada’s economy.
Carney and US President Donald Trump met at the White House on Tuesday.
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“From the start, I liked him and we had a good relationship,” Trump told reporters in the oval office, sitting next to Carney.
“We have a natural conflict. We have mutual love… you know we have great love for each other,” he added, saying the two men will discuss tariffs, including the possibility of lowering tariffs in the major Canadian sector, as part of their efforts to alleviate trade tensions between Washington and Ottawa.
Over 77% of Canadian exports go to the US.
Canadian government officials and several analysts said the mere fact that the debate continues, robbing the possibility of an imminent trade contract with Trump should be considered a success for Carney.
Among the topics of discussion are Trade and the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which is important to the Canadian economy and is directed towards reviews next year.
Trump said he would be willing to revisit the free trade agreements that were enacted during his first term or seek “different transactions.”
“We can renegotiate it, and that’s a good thing, or we can just do various deals,” he said. “We are allowed to do various transactions.”
Trump likes Carney, something he didn’t show to Carney’s predecessor, Justin Trudeau. He described Carney as a “world-class leader” and described him as a tough negotiator.
The Prime Minister last visited the oval office in May. He told Trump that Canada would never sell in response to repeated threats to its purchase or appendix.
Since then, the Prime Minister has made numerous concessions to Canada’s biggest trading partner. This includes withdrawing several rebuttals and disposing of digital services taxes targeting high-tech US companies.
Kearney’s office says the work visit will focus on building new economic and security relationships with the United States.
“In the areas where we compete, we have to reach an agreement that works,” Carney said.
“We’ve been working hard to get into the world,” said Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for the White House, on Monday. “I’m sure trade will become a topic of discussion, and it’s all the other issues facing both Canada and the US.”
While the majority of Canadian exports enter the country to avoid US tariffs under the USMCA, tariffs are baffling Canada’s steel, aluminum, the automotive sector, and many small and medium-sized businesses.
“The reality is that Canadian products are one of the lowest tariff rates,” says Jonathan Calles, a former adviser to Trudeau, Carney’s predecessor. “You don’t want to thrust the bear when things can get even worse,” he said. He added that meetings with Trump are calculated risks.
“Kearney will probably get a better deal through private negotiations, rather than the dignity and ritual of going to the White House,” he said.
Growing pressure
Carney won the election in April, promising that he would be tough with Trump, securing new economic ties with the United States.
Shachi Carl, president of the Angus Reed Institute, said polls show Canadians are mostly willing to give Canadians time to deal with Trump.
“But that time is limited,” Carl said, adding that job losses could be increased and pressure could be put on the pressure as economic growth hampered by US tariffs.
Canadian opposition leader Pierre Poilierble criticized Carney’s approach to Trump and noted the prime minister’s previous pledge to “negotiate a victory” by July 21st. He said Monday that Carney doesn’t seem to achieve much on the trip.
Dominique LeBlanc, Minister of Trade for Canada and the US, said Canada is doing what it should do with departmental tariffs.
“Did the opposition leaders suggest that if the US president was inviting us to go to Washington for a meeting and lunch, they should have called “No”? “LeBlanc said in Parliament.
Asa McCarther, a Canadian-US relationship expert at St. Francis Xavier University, said Carney’s meeting with Trump would be a success if there was a perception that Canada had moved to address some of Trump’s lasting complaints.
“Kearney has just set up this new defense agency and boosted military spending, so I think it would be great if Trump could reduce some of the tariffs in these sectors of the car,” McCarther said, citing Trump’s past complaints that Canada is a “military free rider.”
