OTTAWA — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Tuesday he had wide-ranging and constructive talks with US President Donald Trump at the White House, despite disagreements on lifting tariffs and Trump’s “51st state” comments, according to CBC News.
At a news conference in Washington, Carney said they agreed to continue discussions in the coming weeks and meet again at the G7 summit in Alberta.
Carney told Trump it’s “not useful” to repeat the 51st state idea, noting that Trump “is the president who is going to say whatever he wants.” He added, “He understands that we are having a negotiation between sovereign nations.”
Asked whether he was returning to Ottawa with progress on the trade war, Carney said they had “specific things to follow up on and build out from that. These are the discussions you have when you’re looking to find solutions.”
Trump, however, made clear the tariffs — especially on autos — would remain in place. Carney responded, “We’ll see.”
CBC reported Canadian auto workers and suppliers fear that prolonged tariffs will hurt car sales. Flavio Volpe, head of Canada’s Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association, expressed hope Carney would schedule more talks with Trump, saying, “I want to know that we’ve set a date for the next game.”
Just before Carney’s arrival, Trump posted on Truth Social dismissing Canada’s importance to the US economy, writing, “We don’t need their Cars, we don’t need their Energy, we don’t need their Lumber, we don’t need ANYTHING they have. They, on the other hand, need EVERYTHING from us!”
In the Oval Office, Trump called the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) a “transitional step” and gave no commitment to renewing it. Carney described the agreement as the “basis for a broader negotiation” and said some parts might change during a potential renegotiation.
Trump also repeated annexation threats, calling Canada’s border “artificial” and describing annexation as a “wonderful marriage” with advantages like tax cuts and military protection. When Carney asserted that Canada is “never for sale,” Trump quipped, “Never say never, ... time will tell.”
The US currently imposes tariffs of 25 percent on most goods, 10 percent on energy and potash, 25 percent on Canadian steel and aluminum, and 25 percent on non-USMCA autos. Canada retaliated with its own 25 percent tariffs on non-USMCA vehicles, steel, aluminum, and a range of consumer goods worth nearly 60 billion Canadian dollars (43.6 billion US dollars).
Statistics Canada reported that trade with the US fell in March following the new tariffs’ implementation.
Carney’s Washington trip is his first foreign visit since his minority Liberal government’s election win last week. He said it marks the start of ongoing talks with the US on tariffs, military cooperation, and other bilateral issues. / Xinhua