Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney has firmly rejected any plans of pursuing a free trade agreement with China, responding to US President Donald Trump’s threat to impose 100% tariffs on the country. The MAGA leader had previously asserted that goods imported from America’s northern neighbour would be slapped with the punitive blow if Ottawa went ahead with a trade deal with Beijing.
In addition to the tariff threat, strained relations between the US and Canada have also been reflected in Trump’s decision to withdraw the invitation to Carney’s country to join his “Board of Peace.” He followed through with the major switch-up after Carney warned about coercion by great powers – without naming Trump – during his address at the World Economic Forum.
Canadian PM Mark Carney’s statement on China deal
On Sunday, Carney responded to those threatening claims, making his stance clear on ties with China. “We have no intention of doing that with China or any other non-market economy,” he told reporters. “What we have done with China is to rectify some issues that developed in the last couple of years.”
His remarks come shortly after Ottawa and Beijing concluded a “preliminary agreement” on January 16, as both sides lowered tariffs on certain goods. He further maintained the deal between Canada and China was “entirely consistent” with CUSMA (Canada-US-Mexico trade agreement).
The Canadian leader reiterated that he respected the obligations his country is under in light of CUSMA. And so, he told reporters that he would not be pursuing a free trade agreement without intimating the other two parties involved in the alliance.
As per the decision, Canada will now allow 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles into the market annually at a lowered tariff rate of 6.1%, according to CNBC. Carney’s country had previously increased those tariffs to 100% in October 2024 while cooperating with the US.
Being, in turn, will reduce duties on Canadian agricultural exports, including canola seed oil. As a result, the tariffs will fall to 15% from March 1 onwards. They currently stand at 85%.
US vs Canada: Trump’s tariff threat explored
Trump’s current rhetoric on Canada-China relations starkly contrasts what he said earlier this month. “That’s what he [Carney] should be doing. It’s a good thing for him to sign a trade deal. If you can get a deal with China, you should do that,” the US president said, as per CNBC?
This past week, Trump issued his threat to Canada in a Truth Social post. Taking to his social media platform, he linked a news article titled “Deal with the Devil: How Canada’s new partnership with China could backfire.”
In the same post, he wrote, “If Governor Carney thinks he is going to make Canada a “Drop Off Port” for China to send goods and products into the United States, he is sorely mistaken.” Adding that China would “eat Canada alive,” he threatened to hit Ottawa with a 100% Tariff against all Canadian goods and products coming into the USA” if the country “makes a deal with China.”
Echoing the same thought in an interview on ABC’s This Week, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, “We can’t let Canada become an opening that the Chinese pour their cheap goods into the US.”
“We have a [United States-Mexico-Canada agreement], but based off – based on that, which is going to be renegotiated this summer, and I’m not sure what prime minister Carney is doing here, other than trying to virtue-signal to his globalist friends at Davos.”