U.S. President Donald Trump says he had an “extremely productive” call with Prime Minister Mark Carney on Friday, which would be the first time the two leaders have spoken amid a growing trade war.
The call came as Canada weighs its response to Trump’s latest round of tariffs set to hit the country’s auto sector next week, all amid a critical federal election campaign.
“It was an extremely productive call, we agree on many things, and will be meeting immediately after Canada’s upcoming Election to work on elements of Politics, Business, and all other factors, that will end up being great for both the United States of America and Canada,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account. “Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Trump also referred to Carney as “Prime Minister” — a notable change from his repeated references to former prime minister Justin Trudeau as “governor” of a hypothetical 51st U.S. state.
Carney did not immediately comment on the call, and a readout was not immediately available from the Prime Minister’s Office.
Carney said Thursday he intended to make clear to Trump that the interests of both countries are best served by co-operation and mutual respect. He has previously said he would only speak to Trump when the U.S. president began respecting Canada’s sovereignty, after repeatedly threatening to absorb the country.
Speaking to reporters in Ottawa, he declared the “old relationship” of deeper economic and military cooperation with the U.S. “is over” due to Trump’s ever-increasing trade hostilities, and added Canada must “fundamentally reimagine our economy” to move away from its traditionally close ally.
Carney said Trump’s office had reached out Wednesday evening to schedule a call, after Trump signed an executive order for 25 per cent foreign-made cars, light trucks and auto parts.
The auto tariffs that are set to go into effect April 2 — along with an unclear set of global “reciprocal” tariffs — will not apply on U.S.-made parts in foreign-made vehicles, according to the order.
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Yet they also come on top of existing 25 per cent tariffs on a majority of Canadian goods that are set to expand to all exports to the U.S. starting April 2, as well as 25 per cent tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum.
Carney is virtually meeting Canadian premiers at noon on Friday where they are expected to discuss retaliatory measures.
Carney said Thursday that Canada “will respond forcefully,” adding that “nothing is off the table.”
Ottawa has not indicated any specifics about what its countermeasures would look like once those tariffs go into effect.
But Carney, in his role as the caretaker prime minister, promised on Thursday to bring retaliatory measures, reduce internal trade barriers and pivot Canada’s economy away from reliance on the U.S.
As per the caretaker convention, Carney can act in his prime ministerial capacity during an election campaign as long as his actions are routine, non-controversial, agreed to by opposition parties or “urgent and in the public interest.”
The trade war has become a key campaign focus for all the main federal parties in the general election. Canadians are set to go to the polls on April 28.
Carney has had to press pause on his campaign as the Liberal Party leader to focus on Canada’s response to Trump’s trade actions.
Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre is campaigning in British Columbia on Friday, while NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is in Toronto.
Poilievre on Thursday urged Trump to “knock it off” and “stop attacking America’s friends,” while vowing to diversify and grow Canada’s domestic economy by focusing on natural resources and energy.
Speaking at a campaign stop on Friday, Singh said removing Trump’s “illegal, unwarranted, unjustified” tariffs should be the top priority for Carney in his conversation with Trump, as well as underscoring “that we will never be the 51st state.”
“I want Canada to win. I want this call to be successful,” Singh said.
“There are many things that I’m going to attack Mark Carney on when it comes to domestic policy. But when it comes to our fight against Donald Trump, we all need to be united in fighting back against Donald Trump and protecting our country and protecting jobs.”
Both Poilievre and Singh have called for additional retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods, and that all revenues collected by the federal government from those tariffs go toward supporting Canadian workers affected by Trump’s actions.
Carney said Thursday his government has “committed to use every dollar collected from our retaliatory tariffs to protect our workers.”
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