Prime Minister
Mark Carney is warning that Canada will get tougher with the United States if there is no agreement to avoid President Donald Trump’s latest threatened tariffs, which are scheduled to
take effect this month.
Canada’s goal, Mr. Carney says, is to get all of Mr. Trump’s sectoral tariffs, including those on autos, dealt with.
“The tone is pretty tough. We are going to do everything that would be necessary if there isn’t a deal on Aug. 19,” the Prime Minister, speaking in French, said Wednesday at an unrelated announcement in Toronto, adding later: “The time to get tougher will be if there is a moment where there isn’t a deal with the Americans.”
Mr. Carney said that “with tariff threats, we have options,” but did not specify what retaliatory measures he is considering.
Mr. Trump, meanwhile, decried Canada’s “nasty leadership” in a speech Wednesday at a Las Vegas casino, naming several countries that he claimed have taken advantage of the U.S. on trade, including Canada.
“Canada’s nasty, they are, they’re nasty,” he said. “I love the people, but they’re nasty. Nasty leadership.”
The Prime Minister’s Office declined to comment on Mr. Trump’s outburst.
Amid the escalating tension, Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Janice Charette, Canada’s chief negotiator, are in Washington for the second time in as many weeks in a bid to drive talks forward.
Mr. LeBlanc’s office said they met with Jay Timmons, the CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers, a U.S. industry group, on Tuesday, as well as Republican senators Kevin Cramer of North Dakota and Bill Hagerty of Tennessee on Wednesday.
Mr. Carney said he had also personally had conversations with the Americans, adding that there were “real negotiations, constructive negotiations, on several issues.”
