TORONTO.– The Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carneyclaimed on Tuesday to have made it clear to the president of the United States, Donald Trump, that he was serious when he expressed himself in his speech in Davosand that he informed him that Canada plans to diversify its trade away from Washington through a dozen new trade agreements.
The Canadian premier thus rejected the statement of the North American Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessant, who told Fox News that the prime minister had retracted his statements made at the World Economic Forum during a phone call with Trump on Monday.
“To be absolutely clear, and I said this to the president: “I meant exactly what I said in Davos.”Carney told reporters upon arriving at a cabinet meeting in the capital, Ottawa.
“Canada was the first country to understand the change in US trade policy that he promoted, and we are responding to that,” added the president.
In Davos, during last week’s World Economic Forum, Carney condemned the economic coercion exercised by the great powers about smaller countries, without directly mentioning Trump. The Prime Minister received wide praise and attention for his remarkswhich partially overshadowed the Republican’s intervention in the meeting.
Last weekend, Trump threatened to impose a 100% tariff to goods imported from Canada whether the United States’ northern neighbor moved forward with a trade deal with Beijing, even after Carney had maintained that Ottawa has no interest in negotiating a comprehensive trade agreement with the Asian giant.
“I explained our link with China. I explained what we are doing: 12 new agreements, on four continents, in six months“Carney said about what was discussed in the call. “He was impressed,” added the premier, who assured that it was Trump who contacted him.
Carney further stated that Canada’s trade agreement with China is limited to reducing tariffs that had recently been imposed on a few sectors and said he spoke with Trump about Ukraine, Venezuela and security in the Arcticwithout giving more details.
For his part, the Canadian minister responsible for trade between Canada and the United States, Dominic LeBlanccompared it with a pact that Trump closed with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea last summer, in which Washington reduced some tariffs on China while Beijing agreed to allow rare earth exports and to lift a pause in the purchase of American soybeans.
The prime minister has set a goal for Canada to double its exports outside the United States in the next decade and plans to travel to India, Australia and other countries As part of its effort to diversify trade and reduce dependence on Washington, destination of more than 75% of Canadian exports.
In parallel, The Treaty between the United States, Mexico and Canada expires this yearwhich could offer the Canadian president greater room for maneuver in his distancing from the United States.
The Canadian premier’s statements respond to Bessent’s comments on Fox News on Monday, who stated that during his conversation with Trump, Carney “backtracked very markedly on some of the comments unfortunate things he did in Davos.”
“Of course, Canada depends on the United States”said Bessent. “There is much more trade from north to south than there could ever be from east to west,” he added, in addition to insisting that the Canadian premier should stop trying to “push your own globalist agenda”.
Trump’s tariff threat came amid an escalation of verbal exchanges with Carney. The Republican president’s push to acquire Greenland that strained the NATO alliance, also alarmed Canadawhich shares a 3,000-kilometer maritime border in the Arctic with Greenland.
At the same time, the American president has repeatedly questioned Canada’s sovereignty and suggested that the country should be absorbed by the United States, becoming the “51st state”. Last week, the tycoon posted an altered image on social media showing a map of the United States. which included Canada, Venezuela, Greenland and Cuba as part of its territory.
In this context, Carney has become one of the spokespersons for a movement that seeks to bring together different countries to confront Trump’s trade policy. Speaking in Davos before the American president, Carney stated: “The middle powers must act together, because if you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
In his speech, Carney stated that The US-led global governance system was undergoing a “rupture.”and argued that Canada could show the world that the future did not have to be autocratic. He added that middle powers, such as Ottawa, which had prospered during the era of “American hegemony,” they had to assume that a new reality had been installed.
Trump responded from the same forum. “Canada lives thanks to the United States. Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements,” he wrote on social media.
Back in his country, Carney responded with a televised message. “Canada does not live thanks to the United States. Canada prospers because we are Canadians,” said. The prime minister acknowledged that Ottawa and Washington have built a notable collaboration in economic, security and cultural exchange, but stressed: “We are owners of our house. This is our country, it is our future. The choice is ours.”
Agencies AP, AFP and Reuters
