Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is embarking on a tour of India, Australia, and Japan to reduce Canada’s economic reliance on the United States, his office announced. The three-country trip comes amid escalating tensions with President Donald Trump, who has threatened 100% tariffs against Canada and claimed the nation could become an American state.
The tour reflects a strategic pivot for Canada in response to what officials describe as mounting pressure to the nation’s economic independence. Carney has said Canada must double its non-U.S. exports within the next decade, a goal now underscored by Trump’s threats and claims of sovereignty over Canadian territory.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is embarking on a three-country tour of India, Australia, and Japan this week and next to reduce Canada’s economic reliance on the United States, his office announced. The trip comes as relations between Ottawa and Washington deteriorate under escalating tariff threats from President Donald Trump, who has also claimed Canada could become an American state.
India, Australia, and Japan
Carney will first visit Mumbai on Thursday to meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and business leaders. India was Canada’s seventh-largest trading partner in 2024, despite relations between the two countries remaining strained since June 2023, when Canadian police accused New Delhi of involvement in the assassination of a Canadian Sikh activist near Vancouver.
“In a more uncertain world, Canada is focused on what we can control. We are diversifying our trade and attracting massive new investment,” Carney said in a statement.
In Australia, Carney will become the first Canadian prime minister to address both houses of Parliament in two decades. He will also meet with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to discuss defense and artificial intelligence advancements.
In Tokyo, Carney will meet with Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae to discuss clean energy, critical minerals, and food security.
Trump’s Escalating Pressure
The tour reflects Carney’s stated goal to double Canada’s non-U.S. exports within the next decade—an ambition born from what his government describes as American economic pressure. Carney has attributed declining investment to American tariffs, which he framed as a threat to Canadian sovereignty and economic independence.
That pressure has intensified in recent weeks. In January, Trump threatened to impose 100% tariffs on Canadian goods unless the country abandoned a proposed trade deal with China. Trump has also made territorial claims on Canada, stating it could become the 51st U.S. state—a characterization Canada’s government has rejected.
Davos Speech and Unresolved Tensions
Last month at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Carney directly addressed the geopolitical tensions, condemning what he described as “economic coercion by great powers on smaller countries.” His remarks received widespread attention and, by several accounts, overshadowed Trump’s own statements at the conference.
The India portion of the tour arrives amid broader concerns about Indian government conduct abroad. In 2023, U.S. prosecutors said an Indian government official directed a failed plot to assassinate a Sikh separatist leader in New York. Earlier this month, a man from India admitted he conspired to hire a hitman to assassinate the same Sikh separatist leader.
Canada’s government is moving to advance a trade deal with India despite the diplomatic tensions, signaling that economic diversification takes priority in the near term over unresolved allegations of misconduct.
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