Carney pitched himself as the leader to handle Trump. Now he's off to Washington
OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney is travelling to Washington to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump to talk trade and security, as the president shows no sign of letting up on comments about coveting Canada as a state.
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Joining Carney will be International Trade and Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc, along with Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly and Public Safety Minister David McGuinty. Carney will name his new cabinet later this month.
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The high-stakes trip comes after an election campaign in which Carney pitched himself as the leader best suited to steer the country through the economic headwinds caused by the Trump administration's protectionist policies.
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Vehicles and auto-parts not covered by the free trade agreement between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico have been subject to 25 per cent U.S. tariffs since last month. The same goes for Canadian imports and energy products, not covered by the deal, save for energy exports, which are subject to a 10 per cent levy.
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Back in March, the president's 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum also took effect, with the White House giving no carveout for Canada.
The federal government has responded by hitting back with retaliatory tariffs on billions of dollars' worth of U.S. goods.
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The effects of the U.S-launched trade war were underscored last week when General Motors announced it would be transitioning to a two-shift operation from a three-shift operation in the fall, jeopardizing upwards of 700 jobs, according to Unifor.
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Carney, who has spoken with Trump by phone, told reporters at his first post-election press conference last Friday that dealing with the Canada-U.S. relationship was his first priority as prime minister.
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'As I've stressed repeatedly, our old relationship based on steadily increasing integration is over,' Carney said last week.
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'The questions now are how our nations will co-operate in the future, and where we, in Canada, will move on.'
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Diversifying Canada's trade away from the U.S. is one of the goals Carney has set for the country. Same with bolstering its own economic power by working with premiers to tear down interprovincial trade barriers and remove federal trade barriers by Canada Day.
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Ahead of his trip to Washington, Carney spoke with President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and President of the European Council António Costa.
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Carney has said he was preparing for a 'comprehensive set of meetings' to take place Tuesday, which others members of the Trump administration would also attend.
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While he said his focus would be on the 'immediate trade pressures' Canada faces in terms of tariffs, he also wanted to discuss the two countries' broader relationship.
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