Canadas Carney set for high-stakes meeting with US President Trump
Tensions between the two leaders have been high, particularly due to Trumps tariffs and his past calls for Canada to join the US as the 51st state. Carney, who replaced Justin Trudeau as Prime Minister, has vowed to reshape Canadas relationship with the US and fight for better trade deals.
Canadian Prime MinisterMark CarneymeetsDonald Trumpon Tuesday for the first time since he won reelection on a pledge to stand up to the US presidents tariffs and threats to annex the United States northern neighbor.
The 60-year-old Liberal Party leader has said that things cannot be the same with the United States under Trump, and warned not to expect any immediate agreements from the meeting at theWhite House.
Trump has sparked a major trade war with Canada, which counts the United States as its main ally and trading partner, while repeatedly making extraordinary calls forCanadato become the 51st US state.
Republican Trump called Carney a very nice gentleman after they spoke last week but said on Monday that he was not sure what Carney wanted to talk about.
Hes coming to see me. I'm not sure what he wants to see me about, but I guess he wants to make a deal. Everybody does, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
Trump is set to welcome Carney at 11:30 am (1530 GMT), followed by lunch and then a meeting in the Oval Office.
Trump slapped general tariffs of 25 percent on Canada andMexicoand sector-specific levies on autos, some of which have been suspended pending negotiations. He has also imposed similar duties on steel and aluminum.
Carney has vowed to remake Canadas ties with the United States in perhaps its biggest political and economic shift sinceWorld War II.
Our old relationship based on steadily increasing integration is over. The questions now are how our nations will cooperate in the future, Carney said on Friday.
The Canadian leader said he would also fight to get the best deal on thetariffs.
But Trumps ultra-loyal Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said it would be really complex to reach a deal.
They have their socialist regime and its basically feeding off of America, he told Fox Business on Monday. I just dont see how it works out perfectly.
Important moment
The US president inserted himself into Canadas election early on with a social media post saying Canada would face ZERO TARIFFS if it becomes the cherished 51st state.
Pierre Poilievres Conservative Party had been on track to win the vote but Trumps attacks, combined with the departure of unpopular former premierJustin Trudeau, transformed the race.
Carney, who replaced Trudeau as prime minister in March, convinced voters that his experience managing economic crises made him the ideal candidate to defy Trump.
The political newcomer previously served as governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank ofEngland, and in the latter post he played a key role reassuring markets after the 2016Brexitvote.
Carney is known for weighing his words carefully but he will face a challenge dealing with the confrontational Trump on the US presidents home turf.
This is a very important moment for him, since he insisted during the campaign that he could take on Mr Trump, Genevieve Tellier, a political scientist at the University of Ottawa, told AFP.
The Canadian premier would also have to avoid the fate of Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelensky, who walked into a brutal tongue-lashing from Trump and Vice PresidentJD Vancein February.
Everyone obviously remembers the altercation with Zelensky, said Tellier.
One point in Carneys favor is that he is not Trudeau, the slick former prime minister whom Trump famously loathed and belittled as governor of Canada, she added.
The world will also be watching, with Carneys victory one of two by left-leaning leaders in the past week in elections that Trumps stance may have swayed.
Carneys victory came just days before Australian Prime MinisterAnthony Albanesealso won reelection in a vote that was overshadowed by Trumps tariff threats.
On arrival in the US capital, the Canadian PM struck a confident tone.
Canada and the United States are strongest when we work together -- and that work starts now, he said on social media.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
Originally published on France24
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