Carney calls Canada’s ties to the US a ‘weakness’
“Many of our former strengths, based on our close ties to America, have become our weaknesses; weaknesses that we must correct.”
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“Many of our former strengths, based on our close ties to America, have become our weaknesses; weaknesses that we must correct.”
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said the country’s ties with the United States have become a “weakness” that must be addressed, as he outlined his economic concerns in a video message on Sunday.
In the nearly 10-minute pre-recorded address, Carney said he plans to speak “directly and regularly” to Canadians about his plans for the country, promising he would “never sugarcoat” the country’s challenges. According to a report by CTV News, Carney wanted a way to talk directly to the country’s citizens in an extended format.
Carney said that the world has become more “dangerous and divided,” and that Canada must reevaluate its international relationships in response.
“The US has fundamentally changed its approach to trade, raising its tariffs to levels last seen during the Great Depression,” Carney said. “Many of our former strengths, based on our close ties to America, have become our weaknesses; weaknesses that we must correct.”
The prime minister warned that Canadian workers in industries such as automotive manufacturing, steel, and lumber are “under threat” due to tariffs, adding that businesses are holding back investment because of uncertainty.
“The US has changed and we must respond,” Carney declared.
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The remarks come amid criticisms from US officials over Canada’s trade policies. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick recently questioned Canada’s strategy, and the Trump administration has taken issue with Canada’s economic engagement with China. The US’ northern neighbor recently agreed to allow tens of thousands of Chinese electric vehicles into the Canadian market at a tariff rate of just 6.1 percent rather than 100 percent.
"Carney has a problem with us. He gets on a plane and he goes to China," Lutnick said. "Does he think the Chinese economy is going to buy his stuff? China is entirely an export-driven economy, right? So what do you do? [Carney] came back and said, 'Oh, we'll take their electric cars.' I mean, is this nuts?"
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre sharply criticized Carney’s remarks in a post on X, saying Carney wants to “keep Canadians in a state of fear and panic to distract from all of his costly failures at home.”
“The Carney Liberals have given us the worst food inflation, the worst household debt, the worst housing costs, and the only shrinking economy in the G7,” Poilievre said. “He has not repealed a single anti-development law, approved a single pipeline, and housing construction is actually falling.”
“And as for the U.S.,” he continued, “Mark Carney’s talk of a rupture with the customer that buys two-thirds of our goods is not a plan. He has not negotiated a single new Free Trade Agreement with any country on earth.”
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