Prime Minister Mark Carney will head to Washington on Tuesday for his first face‑to‑face meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, trying to patch up a trade relationship he warned last week was “over.” The trip comes just days after Carney’s Liberal party won the general election, ending a campaign overshadowed by Trump’s jabs at Canada and sudden tariffs on its exports. Speaking in Ottawa on Friday at his first news conference as prime minister, Carney said he and Trump had “a very constructive call” and agreed to meet at the White House. “Our focus will be on the immediate trade pressures and on the wider economic and security link between our two sovereign nations,” he told reporters, adding that difficult but useful talks lay ahead. Carney also announced that King Charles will travel to Ottawa later this month to open the new Parliament with a speech. It will be the first time in nearly 50 years that the monarch has performed the ceremony. “This historic honour matches the weight of our times,” the prime minister said. The election itself was shaped by anxiety over Canada’s place beside a combative neighbour. Trump had mocked former prime minister Justin Trudeau and even floated the idea of annexing Canada as a “51st state,” a rhetoric that helped propel the Liberals from distant second in the polls to victory. Tensions worsened when the United States announced tariffs despite the US‑Mexico‑Canada Agreement (USMCA), the trade pact Trump himself signed during his first term. On election night, Carney declared that Trump would “never break” Canada and promised to look for fresh partnerships in Europe and beyond. The meeting agenda, he said on Friday, will zero in on the “complex” U.S. duties now hitting Canada’s automotive, steel, and aluminium producers. “I go there with the expectation of difficult but constructive conversations,” Carney said. The prime minister, a former governor of the Bank of England, stressed that Trump made no fresh mention of annexation during their phone call. “This will never, ever happen,” he insisted. Carney will govern with a minority after the Liberals fell just short of a majority of seats, yet he outlined plans to “advance the nation‑building investments that will transform our economy.” Officials note that U.S. tariffs are already weighing on Canada’s economy General Motors said on Friday that it would cut output at its Ontario factory, a move the union predicts will cost more than 2,000 jobs. In April, carmaker Stellantis paused production for two weeks. “We are fighting hard for our auto sector, all our sectors, in these negotiations with the Americans,” Carney said. Business leaders welcome the talks but want clear rules. Goldy Hyder, chief executive of the Business Council of Canada, said Tuesday that the USMCA remains the best framework “to restore the certainty, stability and predictability” of cross‑border trade. Looking ahead, Carney said his cabinet will be sworn in during the week of May 12. Parliament will return on May 27, when King Charles delivers the opening address. The race for Parliament was dominated by arguments over Trump and Canada’s bond with its most important customer and ally. Throughout the summer, opinion polls showed the Liberals trailing, yet the president’s tariff move and annexation talk shifted opinion overnight. Cryptopolitan Academy: Coming Soon - A New Way to Earn Passive Income with DeFi in 2025. Learn More
