Canada’s Carney says Trump tariff threats are “bluster” ahead of talks

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Monday that some of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats should be viewed as “positioning” ahead of renewed U.S.-Canada free-trade talks, according to a report by the Associated Press.

Carney said Canada and the United States are entering a review of the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement this year and that he expects a “robust review.” He said he believes Trump is a strong negotiator and that some of the comments and positioning should be understood in that broader context.

Trump, meanwhile, threatened over the weekend to impose a 100% tariff on goods imported from Canada if Canada went ahead with a trade deal with Beijing. The AP reported that Carney has said Canada has no interest in negotiating a comprehensive trade deal with Beijing.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Carney spoke with Trump on Monday. Bessent told Fox News that Carney “was very aggressively walking back some of the unfortunate remarks he made at Davos,” the AP reported. A Carney spokesperson did not immediately respond when asked about the call, according to the AP.

In Canada, Dominic LeBlanc, the minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade, said he spoke with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Sunday. LeBlanc said he made it clear that Canadians are negotiating a “narrow trade arrangement” with China that mostly deals with just “a few sectors of our economy.”

LeBlanc compared the approach to an agreement Trump reached with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea last summer. The AP reported that LeBlanc said the U.S. cut some tariffs on China, while Beijing moved to allow rare earth exports and lift a pause on purchasing U.S. soy.

LeBlanc also said upcoming talks were a review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement and not a full-scale renegotiation of trade as happened during Trump’s first term. He said, “It was built into the agreement. It’s not a renegotiation,” and that “It’s not six years ago We talked about that. This is a review,” as quoted by the AP. LeBlanc said Canada is ready to move quickly.

The AP said the tariff threats are tied to wider trade and political tensions, including Canada’s evolving approach toward China. In 2024, the AP reported, Canada mirrored the United States by putting a 100% tariff on electric vehicles from Beijing and a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum. China responded with 100% import taxes on Canadian canola oil and meal and 25% on pork and seafood.

Carney later cut Canada’s 100% tariff on Chinese electric cars after a visit to Beijing. The AP reported that Carney said Monday that “Last week’s new strategic partnership with China will make available tens of thousands affordable electric vehicles in Canada.”

Carney has said the plan includes an initial annual cap of 49,000 Chinese EVs entering Canada at a tariff rate of 6.1%, growing to about 70,000 over five years. He also said the initial cap would be about 3% of the 1.8 million vehicles sold in Canada each year, and that China is expected to begin investing in Canada’s auto industry within three years, the AP reported.

The AP said Trump’s tariff threat came as rhetoric between Carney and Trump escalated, including Trump’s push to acquire Greenland, which Carney described as straining NATO ties. The report also said Carney had emerged as a spokesman for countries to work together, and that in Davos he told attendees, “Middle powers must act together because if you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”