Montreal (AFP) – Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney called US President Donald Trump’s pause on global tariffs a “welcome reprieve” and said Ottawa will begin negotiations with Washington on a new economic deal after elections. After days of turmoil in global markets, the mercurial US president abruptly announced Wednesday a pause for 90 days on tariffs on most countries except China.
Carney took to social media platform X and called it a “welcome reprieve for the global economy.” He added that Canada and the United States will “commence negotiations on a new economic and security relationship immediately following the Federal election” on April 28. Tensions over trade and foreign policy have soured the relationship of the two traditionally close allies, who were also each other’s biggest trading partners.
Canada was mostly spared in the latest round of Trump’s tariffs but had already been targeted by US tariffs on steel, aluminum, and automobiles. It also began imposing a 25 percent tariff on certain US auto exports starting Wednesday, announced last week in retaliation to Trump’s levies on imported autos and parts. Trump on Wednesday also said that trade deals could be made with every country, which Carney warned in his X post could “result in a fundamental restructuring of the global trading system.”
“In that context, Canada must also continue to deepen its relationships with trading partners that share our values, including the free and open exchange of goods, services, and ideas,” he said. Carney, who last month succeeded Justin Trudeau as prime minister, is from the Liberal Party, which is largely expected to win. The Liberals trailed in polls earlier this year but pulled back thanks to a defiant stance to Trump’s trade war, with their Conservative rivals seen as more accommodating to the US president.
© 2024 AFP
