Incoming prime minister Mark Carney said Wednesday he was ready to negotiate directly with U.S. President Donald Trump a renewed trade accord in a bid to avoid further economic tussling.
“I’m ready to sit down with President Trump at the appropriate time under a position where there’s respect for Canadian sovereignty and we’re working for a common approach, a much more comprehensive approach for trade,” Carney told steelworkers at a plant in Hamilton, Ont.
“We are all going to be better off when the greatest economic and security partnership in the world is renewed, relaunched,” he added. Carney had previously vowed to “win” a trade war with the U.S.
Canada and the United States, along with Mexico, are bound by a decades-old free trade agreement that was refreshed during Trump’s first term.
But since returning to the White House, Trump has ordered tariffs on trading partners including Canada. On Wednesday, a 25 percent levy on steel and aluminum imports into the United States took effect.
Canada supplies more than half of U.S. aluminum imports and 20 per cent of U.S. steel imports, according to industry consultant EY-Parthenon.
Canada hit back Wednesday by announcing additional 25 per cent tariffs on C$29.8 billion of U.S. goods.
This is on top of a 25 per cent tariff on U.S. goods worth $30 billion that Ottawa imposed earlier this month in response to Trump’s initial round of trade levies against Canadian products.
