Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is making his second visit to the White House in five months, due to mounting pressure to address US tariffs on steel, automobiles, and other items that are negatively impacting Canada’s economy.
On Tuesday, Carney met with US President Donald Trump at the White House.
Sitting beside the Canadian prime minister in the Oval Office, Trump told speaking to reporters, “From the beginning, I liked him, and we’ve had a good relationship.”
“We have natural conflict, but we’ll probably work that out. We also have mutual love … you know we have great love for each other,” he remarked. Trump added that they would discuss tariffs including lowering tariffs on important Canadian sectors as part of efforts to ease trade tensions between Washington and Ottawa.
The United States receives more than 77 percent of Canada’s exports.
A Canadian government official and several economists downplayed the likelihood of an impending trade agreement with Trump, stating that Carney should be proud that talks are still ongoing.
During the bilateral talks with Carney, Trump joked about the possibility that Canada will become the “51st US State.” The former chuckled as Trump stated that although there have been disagreements between the two countries, they can resolve them.
“I’ve been very creative… He said very carefully- Canada and the United States,” Trump remarked, gesturing to Carney’s measured style of speaking.
Trade and the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which is crucial to Canada’s economy and will be reviewed next year, are among the subjects being discussed.
Trump stated that he was open to looking for “different deals” or reviewing the free trade agreement that was implemented during his first term.
“We could renegotiate it, and that would be good, or we can just do different deals. We’re allowed to do different deals,” he said.
In contrast to Carney’s predecessor, Justin Trudeau, Trump showed fondness for Carney. He called the Canadian prime minister a “world-class leader” and claimed that he is a tough negotiator.
Carney’s political reputation and Canada’s economy are suffering because of the punitive tariffs; Canada is currently the only member of the Group of 7 that hasn’t negotiated a trade agreement to avoid them.
During their first meeting in the Oval Office in May, he firmly stated that Canada is “not for sale” and “won’t be for sale, ever,” to counter Trump’s territorial ambitions. The situation was largely defused despite Trump’s slight pushback, shrugging and saying, “never say never.”
He has made several concessions to Canada’s largest trading partner, such as eliminating a digital services tax targeted at US tech companies and removing some counter tariffs.
According to Carney’s office, the goal of the working visit is to establish new and secured economic ties with the US.
“In areas where we compete, we have to come to an agreement that works,” Carney said.