WASHINGTON—There was no thought bubble over Mark Carney’s head as he sat next to Donald Trump in the Oval Office.
But the prime minister’s reactions — agreement, amusement, dismay, at times hints of frustration — were written all over his face as the U.S. president held court on electoral comebacks, the beauty of Canada as a 51st state, the dubious future of the North American free trade deal, and his intention to maintain tariffs against Canada until manufacturing returns to the U.S.
Carney tried to interject a few times, eventually landing his key points.
When Trump touted Canada as the 51st state, the prime minister told him flatly Canada was “not for sale,” would “never” join the United States but is willing to work with Trump on a new trade and security partnership.
And when Trump circled back to the 51st state, Carney reminded him that in real estate, “there are some places that are never for sale,” like the White House and Buckingham Palace.
“Having met with the owners of Canada over the course of the campaign the last several months, it’s not for sale, it won’t be for sale ever,” said Carney.
“Time will tell,” Trump said. “But I say, never say never.”
The prime minister said there are changes needed to the current trade deal, noting Trump’s tariffs use its rules to do carve-outs on the U.S. surcharges.
But it was mostly Trump’s show, before the two leaders and a gaggle of cabinet ministers and senior staffers went behind closed doors.
In all, after two hours of exchanges, including a 75-minute one-on-one, Carney called the day “very constructive” and insisted — despite Trump’s own Oval Office criticisms of Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade deal as transitional, on the verge of renegotiation if not termination, and possibly unnecessary — that Trump agreed to negotiate a new deal with Canada.
Carney insisted Trump had said as much, and in French said it was “clear” that “we began the renegotiation of our trading relationship today, including NAFTA.”
“The question is, how we will co-operate in the future, how we can build an economic and security relationship built on mutual respect,” Carney said.
But Carney acknowledged there is no relief from Trump’s import duties against Canadian autos, steel and aluminum, or the so-called “border-related” tariffs on Canadian goods that don’t comply with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade deal, adding that was no “surprise” to him.
“Look, we have more, a lot more work to do. I’m not trying to suggest at any respect that we can have one meeting, and everything’s changed, but now we are engaged, and very fully engaged.”
Trump in the Oval Office said he has no intention of lifting tariffs on Canada, and wasn’t seeking any concession other than “friendship,” saying that’s “just the way it is.”
And yet, Trump hinted at a “big” announcement to come.
Later Tuesday, the Financial Times reported the U.K. and U.S. are on the verge of a deal that would see steel and auto exports to the U.K. partially exempted from 25 per cent tariffs. The Financial Times said the U.K. was prepared to reduce its tariffs on American auto and agricultural imports, but wouldn’t accept U.S. food production standards, including hormone-treated beef.
Nevertheless, senior Canadian officials, speaking on background, said overall, the Canada-U.S. meetings and the tone throughout was positive. One official, who briefed Canadian reporters on condition it was for background purposes only, said the tone was a more serious engagement than had been the case under Justin Trudeau — whom the president openly disdained on Tuesday as a leader “I didn’t like.”
The president had sought Carney’s views on a range of other issues like China, Russia, Ukraine, Iran and the Middle East in private, the official said.
Trump at another event later in the day assessed that the meetings with Carney had gone “very well.”
“As far as calling him Governor Carney — no, I haven’t done that yet, and maybe I won’t. I did have a lot of fun with Trudeau. But I think this is, this is a big step up, it’s a good step up for Canada.”
The day started on a slightly different note.
The U.S. president was late to receive Carney at the outset, posting an oddly provocative welcome for the prime minister on his Truth Social account.
As Carney’s motorcade cooled its heels near the White House awaiting the cue to arrive, Trump posted his long-standing, erroneous assertion that the U.S. “subsidizes” Canada via the imbalance in trade.
About 20 minutes later, Carney arrived at the North Portico entrance, they shook hands briefly, waved closed hands at reporters, before heading into their long-awaited meeting in the Oval Office.
Flanked by several of their respective cabinet members and senior staffers, the two leaders started off with compliments, before Trump pivoted to his pet themes.
He even criticized Canada’s former prime minister Justin Trudeau and his then-trade minister Chrystia Freeland, said the U.S. provides military protection to Canada for “free,” and said he doesn’t know if the Canada-U.S.-Mexico free trade “is necessary anymore.”
He said it “terminates” next year, erroneously describing the upcoming scheduled review of the trade agreement he signed in 2018.
“We’ll see what happens. You know, we’re going to be starting to possibly renegotiate that, if it’s even necessary. I don’t know that it’s necessary anymore, but it served a very good purpose. And the biggest purpose it served is we got rid of NAFTA.”
They then held a working lunch with their officials, dining on baby butter lettuce salad with apple and fennel, thyme roasted chicken, and possibly little cakes designed to appeal to Carney’s CV: maple pear “financiers.”
Back in Canada, Carney was praised for how he handled the meetings.
At Queen’s Park, Premier Doug Ford said Carney looked “very comfortable” in the Oval Office meeting.
“It was very productive. He held his own. It’s the beginning of something a lot better than the last prime minister,” said Ford.
“It’s very obvious that President Trump likes Prime Minister Carney a lot more than he likes prime minister Trudeau,” said the premier.
Flavio Volpe, head of the Canadian Auto Parts Manufacturers Association, said he was “satisfied” that Carney had conveyed a clear message. “I think he said what needed to be said, firmly, and he also knows, I think he showed that he knows, there’s no controlling Donald Trump in front of cameras, but I think, he set the level for the meeting and I was satisfied.”
On auto tariffs, Volpe said there was “nothing new there. They like to push strongly publicly, but they’ve already come back from the brink three times and relented on auto parts (tariffs). I think it’s possible that we find our way to getting the auto tariffs removed. It was just a question of how much we were willing to pay.”
Volpe said Trump is “not going to make those concessions in public. And one of the things that is immutable is Canadian companies don’t make Canadian cars; those are American companies making them, and so ultimately that’s an easier place to make a concession as an American president than on some of the other stuff.”
Candace Laing, head of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said the “chance for a relationship reset was much needed.”
“We are impressed with the tone of the meeting and the momentum toward a reliable, close economic and security relationship.”
Yet Trump’s suggestion that the U.S. doesn’t need Canadian steel and aluminum was met with skepticism — and some scorn — from industry associations in Canada.
Catherine Cobden, president of the Canadian Steel Producers Association, said Trump’s goal of not using foreign steel just isn’t realistic.
“Their vision of supplying 100 per cent of their own steel might be laudable. But they’re currently 26 million tons per year short of that vision,” said Cobden.
Still, Trump’s threat to continue tariffs on steel and aluminum — combined with cheap steel imports from China, India and other countries — are an “urgent, existential” issue for the Canadian steel industry, Cobden said.
Government procurement at all levels should require the use of Canadian steel. The government also needs to put a tariff on cheap steel imports, Cobden added.
“We can’t ride out however many years might be ahead of us with this tariff,” Cobden said.
Trump is shooting his own economy — and the U.S. military — in the foot by continuing to impose a 25 per cent tariff on aluminum imports, argued Jean Simard, CEO of the Aluminum Association of Canada.
“They’re hurting themselves right now. At some point, they won’t be able to afford to keep paying 25 per cent more,” said Simard, adding that the U.S. needs what Canada has, despite what he sees as Trump’s bluster. “This whole thing about saying ‘we don’t need this, we don’t need that’ is a ploy from someone used to negotiating in real estate deals: You downplay the value of what the other side has.”
Replacing imported aluminum with a domestic supply would take years, tens of billions of dollars, and more electricity than the U.S. currently produces, Simard said.
“They’d need the equivalent of five more Hoover Dams just to supply the electricity they’d need to run the smelters,” said Simard. “In this day and age, if you were spending that kind of money for electricity, would you do it for an AI data centre, or for a material you can already get from your neighbour?”
With files from Josh Rubin and Robert Benzie
