While President Donald Trump’s trade war and insistence that Canada become the 51st U.S. state have strained relations between the two countries, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is calling for a “new partnership” between them.
In a speech he made Thursday in New York, saying such a deal would “help make America great again.”
According to a report from Reuters, Carney said that while the world is undergoing a “rupture” as the U.S. transforms its commercial relationships, working closely with Canada in specific sectors, including aluminum, automobiles and critical minerals, would strengthen both countries. As the trade war lingers, Carney has vowed to double Canadian exports to other markets in the next decade and signed more than 20 economic and security deals in the last year, according to Reuters.
After Trump’s threats to annex Canada, Carney described Canada’s ties to the U.S. as “weaknesses we must correct” and said the U.S. had fundamentally changed its approach to trade, raising tariffs to levels last seen during the Great Depression. In January, Carney referred to “American hegemony” in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, saying that greater integration with great powers created “vulnerabilities to be exploited,” Reuters reported.
But in New York, Carney adopted a more conciliatory tone, describing the U.S. as “the most dynamic, resilient and inventive country the world has ever known.” He said the founding values of the U.S., liberty, democracy, justice and openness, “should continue to serve as guides to its future and that of the world,” according to the report.
Carney said a strong Canada would “help make America great again,” and called for greater cooperation between the two countries in industries including aluminum, automobiles and critical minerals.
