Era of close ties with US ‘over’, Canada PM says, as Trump asks to talk
Mark Carney says he expects to speak to the US president in ‘a day or two’, and that Canada will retaliate against planned US car tariffs
The era of deep economic, security and military ties between Canada and the United States “is over”, Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Thursday, after US President Donald Trump announced steep car tariffs.
Trump’s planned 25 per cent levy on vehicle imports to the US is to come into force next week and could be devastating for a Canadian car industry that supports an estimated 500,000 jobs.
After Trump’s announcement, Carney paused his campaign ahead of Canada’s April 28 election to return to Ottawa for a meeting of cabinet members working on tactics in the trade war with the US.
He called Trump’s car tariffs “unjustified” and said they were in breach of existing trade deals between the countries.
He also warned Canadians that Trump had permanently altered relations with the United States and that, regardless of any future trade deals, there would be “no turning back”,
“The old relationship we had with the United States based on deepening integration of our economies and tight security and military cooperation is over,” Carney said.