Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Sunday that his government has no intention of pursuing a free trade agreement with China, pushing back against claims by President Donald Trump, who has threatened to impose sweeping tariffs on Canadian goods if Ottawa deepens trade ties with Beijing.
Trump warned on Saturday that the United States would slap a 100% tariff on all imports from Canada if it went ahead with what he described as a trade deal with China, arguing that Beijing would “completely devour” Canada’s economy, businesses and way of life.
Carney said the claims misrepresented recent discussions with China, stressing that Canada had not entered into a free trade agreement and had no plans to do so.
“We have no intention of doing that with China or any other non-market economy,” Carney said. “What we have done with China is to rectify some issues that developed over the last couple of years.”
He added that under the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA), members are required to notify partners before pursuing free trade deals with non-market economies, a condition Canada has not breached.
Trump, however, dismissed Carney’s explanation in a series of social media posts, claiming China was “successfully and completely taking over” Canada and warning that Ottawa could become a conduit for Chinese goods entering the United States.
“If Prime Minister Carney thinks he is going to make Canada a ‘drop-off port’ for China to send goods into the United States, he is sorely mistaken,” Trump wrote, referring to the Canadian leader as “Governor Carney”, a term he has previously used while suggesting Canada should become the 51st U.S. state.
The dispute follows Carney’s visit to China earlier this month, where he sought to reset strained relations and reached a limited agreement reducing tariffs in specific sectors. Carney said the deal involved cutting tariffs on a small number of industries recently targeted by Chinese retaliation, rather than opening broad market access.
In 2024, Canada matched U.S. measures by imposing a 100% tariff on Chinese electric vehicles and a 25% levy on steel and aluminium. China responded with 100% tariffs on Canadian canola oil and meal, and 25% duties on pork and seafood.
Under the revised arrangement, Canada agreed to ease its tariff on Chinese electric vehicles in exchange for lower Chinese tariffs on Canadian agricultural products.
Carney said Chinese electric vehicle imports would initially be capped at 49,000 units a year at a tariff rate of 6.1%, rising to around 70,000 over five years.
He said the cap would represent about 3% of Canada’s annual vehicle sales and noted that China was expected to invest in Canada’s automotive sector within three years.
Trump seized on the issue by sharing a video featuring the head of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association, who warned that Canada’s auto industry depended heavily on access to the U.S. market and that domestic demand alone was insufficient to support large-scale manufacturing.
“A must watch,” Trump wrote. “The China deal is a disaster for them. Will go down as one of the worst deals in history.”
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent echoed the criticism, saying Washington could not allow Canada to become an entry point for Chinese goods. He also questioned Carney’s motives ahead of a planned renegotiation of the USMCA this summer.
Relations between Trump and Carney have deteriorated sharply in recent days, particularly after Carney criticised Trump’s push to acquire Greenland, a move that has unsettled NATO allies. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Carney argued that “middle powers” needed to work together to avoid coercion by larger states, warning that countries not “at the table” risked being “on the menu”.
Trump responded in his own Davos remarks by saying Canada “lives because of the United States”, a claim Carney later rejected.
“Canada doesn’t live because of the United States,” Carney said during a visit to Quebec. “Canada thrives because we are Canadian.”
Maritime trackers received new reports of an attack on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, according to the ...
A Kyiv-Warsaw train was struck near the Polish border, Ukraine's state railway firm said on Sunday. No passengers were injured. Ukrai...
Indonesian rescuers are searching for 130 people after a passenger ship carrying 243 people sank in the Java Sea following bad weather, while 113 p...
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian arrived in New Delhi on Friday to attend the weekend BRICS summit, amid the ongoing U.S.-Iran conflict, joining a host of foreign dignitaries.
Saudi Arabia has temporarily shut down its 1,200-kilometre East-West oil pipeline after it was hit by a drone attack, with Riyadh and Baghdad saying the strike originated from Iraq.
Mexico and the U.S. are racing to secure a trade deal before the U.S. midterm elections in less than eight weeks, according to six sources familiar with the talks, with failed negotiations between Washington and Canada adding urgency.
Dubai’s property market has spent years climbing. Now, for the first time since 2021, prices are moving in the opposite direction.
Maritime trackers received new reports of an attack on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), adding to concerns about energy supplies after Saudi Arabia shut down a vital oil pipeline on Saturday.
A Kyiv-Warsaw train was struck near the Polish border, Ukraine's state railway firm said on Sunday. No passengers were injured. Ukrainian Railways said that the country's railways were facing systematic attacks for a second day and warned of widespread delays.
Indonesian rescuers are searching for 130 people after a passenger ship carrying 243 people sank in the Java Sea following bad weather, while 113 people have been evacuated and six have died, the country’s search and rescue agency said on Sunday.
China will lead the creation of an open source platform among BRICS members to promote cooperation on large language models, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Sunday.
Swedes vote in an election on Sunday (13 September) that could see the far-right enter government for the first time if the country's right-wing parties can form a majority.
Philippine rescuers recovered 41 more charred remains from a ferry fire on Saturday (12 September), taking the death toll to 76, while 13 people remained unaccounted for as forensic teams worked to identify the victims.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment