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Fox News
4 days ago
- Business
- Fox News
Senators go to Canada to meet PM Carney, smooth Trump tariff, 51st-state tensions
A bipartisan group of senators, led by North Dakota Republican Kevin Cramer and New Hampshire Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, recently traveled to Ottawa, Ontario, to help ease rising tensions between the U.S. and Canada. The quintet, which also included Sens. Peter Welch, D-Vt., Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Tim Kaine, D-Va., was photographed glad-handing Prime Minister Mark Carney, a liberal who had been aided in his election over conservative favorite Pierre Poilievre in part due to American right-wing overtures. As the lone Republican, Cramer was in the difficult spot of balancing representing the president's party and engendering goodwill with Carney, whose government has been targeted by U.S. tariffs and pledges by President Donald Trump to be made the "51st state." He did not respond to a Fox News request for comment in that regard, but Kaine told Punchbowl News that Trump respects Cramer and his "insight and loyalty." "That means the president can probably hear some things from him that, if I said it, I wouldn't get paid attention to," Kaine said. In a statement, Cramer said the two nations share "more than a border" and that working through challenges requires "frank dialogue." "I was encouraged by the meetings, and the Prime Minister's transparent and thoughtful words were smart and instructive. I look forward to working with our friends, business partners, and neighbors in Canada to strengthen our relationship and address mutual issues facing our great countries," he added. The delegation, joined by Ambassador Pete Hoekstra, a former border-state congressman from Michigan, was geared toward joint defense and economic priorities, according to Cramer. The White House directed Fox News Digital to the State Department when asked about its response to the diplomatic overture from Cramer and the four Democrats. But Foggy Bottom did not provide comment for the record. But Cramer told Punchbowl he didn't want to get in Trump's way and that no trade deal could happen without the White House but that Canada needs to know they have a partner in the U.S. "Hopefully I navigated it OK, but I'll find out on Truth Social," he said. Kaine plans to force a Senate vote on a resolution to block Trump's China tariffs if détente isn't reached between Ottawa and Washington. His office directed Fox News Digital to a Punchbowl story on the matter, where the Virginian was quoted saying that there will be negative effects on the U.S. economy if "this doesn't get sorted out." "I hope I don't need to," Kaine said. The U.S. imposed 25% tariffs on Canadian steel, automobiles and other goods not currently covered under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, according to the Wall Street Journal. Canada retaliated by imposing $43 billion worth of its own tariffs against the U.S. "We've got more that we need to do before we're satisfied that we have a partnership that is in Canada's interest. We've made a lot of progress," Carney said Tuesday after the visit concluded. Every congressional participant except Kaine hails from a state that borders Canada. One report said that annual Canadian visitation to Cramer's North Dakota outnumbers its own population, while Welch has been vocal about Vermont's symbiotic reliance on Canadian residents' dollars, especially in its recreation sector. "The U.S.-Canada relationship has made us all safer and more prosperous, protecting our continent from foreign threats and transforming North America into a hub of global trade, innovation and investment," Welch said in a statement co-signed by the other lawmakers. "The trip has reaffirmed our joint desire to move past current tensions in the bilateral relationship and lay the groundwork for a stronger partnership moving forward."
The Independent
5 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
Republican senator admits Trump is Canada's ‘adversary' as DC delegation grovels in Ottawa
Washington's delegation to Canada seemed to have one message in mind: please keep taking us seriously. Months of provocative statements about the Great White North joining America as the 51st state in the Union, however, led the delegation's lone Republican member to admit to reporters that the US president had become an 'adversary' of one of America's two closest neighbors. On Friday, five members of the US Senate were in Ottawa ahead of King Charles's speech to the Canadian parliament. The delegation, typically a routine bipartisan gesture to an American neighbor whose relationship with Washington transcends political divides, was this year split between four Democrats and one lone Republican senator representing a border state — North Dakota. Other Republicans, seemingly fearful of tough questions about Trump's vow to use 'economic force' to coerce Canada into joining the US, stayed home. Kevin Cramer, the GOP 'co-leader', told reporters on the trip that Prime Minister Mark Carney centered him in his conversation with the group, given the senator's relationship with the Republican US president. He told reporters that he sought to encourage Canadian officials to reach a trade deal with the United States. The Trump White House boasted that it would announce 100 trade deals in 100 days as the US president rolled out a slate of so-called 'reciprocal' tariffs this spring; Canada has been a top target of his accusations of unfair practices. 'I don't want to get in Donald Trump 's way. There's no [trade] deal that happens without his involvement. But at the same time [I want to] be an encourager to Canada and their officials and try to be a partner in some way,' said Cramer after the meetings Friday, according to Punchbowl News. He added, jokingly: 'Hopefully I navigated it OK, but I'll find out on Truth Social.' Cramer did not take a beating on Truth Social, much to his relief — even though he did lay the blame for the fraying of ties squarely on Trump's shoulders. 'We have an obligation to stop the offenses,' the Republican senator told reporters, speaking of the United States. 'For the moment, the United States has become an adversary to the Canadian people because of the offense that so many have felt,' he continued. 'What I would stress with the president would be, let's keep our eye on the common adversary and how much stronger we can be.' The tone of Cramer's outreach veered sharply towards outright groveling in an interview with Canadian newscast The West Block. 'I'm just here to say thank you, and then to encourage Canadians to take another look and give us another chance,' said Cramer. Democrats on the trip had notably little to offer the conversation. Tim Kaine, according to Punchbowl, pitched Carney on his bill to block US sanctions on Canada — which even he tacitly acknowledged was going nowhere in the Senate. Senator Jeanne Shaheen said that she hoped some of the 'cracks' in the bonds between the US and Canada could be healed. But she added: 'Ultimately it's the prime minister and the president who will decide to reset the relationship.' Their visit is not likely to shift the dynamic one way or the other. Carney, elected on a Liberal Party mandate to stand up to the US president, flew to Washington in early May after telling the BBC in an interview that Canada would negotiate with America 'on our terms'. Rather than pursue a unilateral response to Trump's tariffs, the Canadian prime minister reportedly invited Claudia Sheinbaum to the upcoming G7 summit in Kananaskis next month. The Mexican president's attendance would allow Carney to pursue a discussion with Trump aimed at salvaging the USMCA trade agreement signed during Trump's first term. A defiant Carney told Trump that Canada was 'not for sale' during their meeting at the White House in early May. The US president, avoiding another Zelensky-like blowup, declined to challenge him. On Tuesday, the US president wrote on Truth Social that he presented Canada's government with a $61bn price tag to be involved with the US's proposed 'Golden Dome' missile defene system, adding that it would be free if Canada relented and became a state. 'They are considering the offer!' Trump said. And on Tuesday, the visit of King Charles provided another opportunity to Canada to celebrate its own growing political distance from the United States. In an address scripted by the Canadian government, Charles declared that Canada, under Carney's government, would bond with 'reliable trading partners and allies' — a clear warning shot for Washington. He'd add that Canada's government was determined to protect the right to 'self-determination' for the country. 'We must be clear-eyed: the world is a more dangerous and uncertain place than at any point since the Second World War,' said Charles on Tuesday. 'Canada is facing challenges that are unprecedented in our lifetimes.'
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
In Ottawa, U.S. senators push trade, Canadian tourism to their states
OTTAWA — Five United States senators were in Ottawa Friday to meet with Prime Minister Mark Carney and underscore the long-standing relationship between the two countries. At a press conference at the U.S. embassy, Republican Kevin Cramer dismissed the current tensions between Canada and the U.S. as a temporary setback. "There's no way in my view that any temporary bump in the road can become a permanent bump in the road, and I think that was really clear today," Cramer told reporters. The delegation also included Democrats Jeanne Shaheen, Tim Kaine, Amy Klobuchar and Peter Welch. They said they want Canadians to continue to visit the United States ahead of the summer season and stressed how important trade with Canada is for the states they represent. Klobuchar said the goal was to get the U.S.-Canada relationship "back on track" ahead of summer. "I personally want Canadians to visit Minnesota as well as the rest of the beautiful states in our country," she said. Kaine, who represents Virginia, said Canada is his state's number one trading partner, and many Canadians go to Virginia Beach on vacation. "It's a very, very important relationship for us in Virginia," he said. The senators were also scheduled to meet with the ministers of foreign affairs, national defence and industry, as well as the Business Council of Canada. The visit comes at a fractious time in Canada-U.S. relations, with the two countries embroiled in a trade war triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump has also threatened to make Canada the 51st state. The conflict has led to a wave of patriotism among Canadians, with many opting out of travel to the U.S. Carney was elected on a platform of promising to stand up to Trump, and to diversify Canada's trade relations away from the United States. Shaheen said the senators had a "good discussion talking about tariffs, talking about ways in which we are cooperating militarily and in the national security space, talking about the importance of the economic relationship that we have." She said they hope there will be continued "very positive discussions for ensuring that some of the cracks that have appeared in the relationship in recent months are healed and we move forward together." Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said in an interview with The Canadian Press that her meeting with the U.S. senators was "constructive." She said the conversation was about "the value of the economic partnership between Canada and the U.S." and the impacts of tariffs on the countries' economies. "I think we can have allies in the U.S. to find ways to lift these tariffs and that's definitely part of the conversation," Joly said, adding that her priority was to highlight the need to support frontline workers amid the trade war. She noted most of the senators who visited Ottawa were from border states. "In that sense, what Canadians have been doing across the country for the last months has been having an impact in the U.S. and so that's why it was important for us to be able to talk." -With files from Catherine Morrison This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 23, 2025. Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press
New York Times
24-05-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Senators Visit Canada, Seeking a Reset Amid Trump's Provocations
A bipartisan group of senators on Friday arrived in Ottawa seeking to stabilize the United States' relationship with Canada, determined to mend a once-tight alliance that President Trump has tested in recent months with tariffs and tough talk. Sporting lapel pins of the American and Canadian flags and red and white friendship bracelets, the group — four Democrats and a lone Republican — met with Prime Minister Mark Carney and senior Canadian officials in a bid to defuse the tension that has built up in recent months after economic pressure and political rhetoric from Mr. Trump that many Canadians have viewed as both destabilizing and deeply insulting. 'We know how important Canada is to our states and how important the United States and the Canadian relationship is to both countries,' said Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, after a day of meetings with government officials and business leaders. She was part of a delegation that included fellow Democratic Senators Tim Kaine of Virginia, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Peter Welch of Vermont, as well as Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, the sole Republican. 'We hope that this meeting will continue very positive discussions toward ensuring that some of the cracks that have appeared in the relationship in recent months are healed, and we move forward together,' Ms. Shaheen said. Those cracks include Mr. Trump's tariffs, which disrupted regional economies dependent on trade with Canada, as well as rhetoric that many Canadians found demeaning. The president's repeated remarks suggesting that Canada should become America's '51st state' and that the United States was being exploited by the relationship were initially dismissed as misunderstood humor or unorthodox negotiation tactics. Now, they are widely viewed in the country as disrespectful and damaging to Canadian sovereignty. 'There's been disruption. We all know that,' Mr. Welch said. 'Our goal is that we have an outcome where we do more together than separately, just as we had before.' Members of the group said they hoped to focus on how the United States and Canada could work together to face shared challenges. 'For the moment, the United States has become an adversary to the Canadian people because of the effect that so many have felt,' Mr. Cramer said. Instead, he said, both countries should be thinking about the real threat: China. 'Therein lies what I believe to be one of the greatest opportunities to heal this relationship, because we can unite around that common adversary with our integrated supply chains and some of the unique qualities of each country,' he said. Ms. Klobuchar highlighted how the United States and Canada had supported each other in tough times, including when Canadian firefighters and emergency medical workers rushed to New York City to assist in the rescue and recovery efforts on Sept. 11, 2001. 'They are friends and our allies and our partners. And at a time when we're dealing with some really major challenges with China and Russia, we should be getting closer, not farther apart,' she said. Mr. Carney, who recently had an awkward but unexpectedly smooth Oval Office visit with Mr. Trump, called the senators' visit 'important both substantively and symbolically,' noting that discussions with the group focused on economic cooperation and security, with an implicit desire to move beyond divisive rhetoric. 'Whatever tactics he used or strategy he deployed, I think that's behind us now,' Mr. Cramer said of Mr. Trump. 'We're moving forward to fix those things.' That messaged appeared to have landed. Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association, one of the nation's largest trade groups and a participant in the meetings, said the shift in tone felt sincere and strategic. 'It's become increasingly clear to me that the language being used on both sides is conciliatory while independent,' he said after the meeting. 'There is a growing joint interest in solving our bilateral issues in the short term as we are both committed to fighting the same adversaries.' Mr. Volpe was heartened to hear from both American and Canadian leaders that there was a desire to quickly get the relationship back on track, and to preserve it for the long term. Among the senators, there was also consensus that the relationship had been overdue for strengthening. Mr. Kaine said a number of business owners in his state, who rely heavily on trade with Canada, had recently expressed interest in traveling there for meetings with industry leaders and officials. 'I've never had a group of businesses reach out to me and say, 'Hey, we want to go to Canada,'' he said in an interview. 'So maybe it's a relationship that, yes, has been very close but maybe has been taken for granted a little bit.' As for Mr. Trump's threats of annexation? 'We don't even want them to be the 51st state,' Mr. Cramer said with a laugh. But unable to resist, he added: 'We want Alberta to be the 51st state. And then we have two Republican senators.'
CBC
23-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
U.S. Republican senator 'encouraged' by meeting with Canada
North Dakota Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer tells Power & Politics he's feeling 'encouraged' about the Canada-U.S. relationship after meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney and some of his cabinet.
