TORONTO -- Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Tuesday he told U.S.President Donald Trump that he meant what he said in his speech at Davos, and told him Canada plans to diversify away from the United States with a dozen new trade deals.
Carney rolled his eyes and rejected U.S.Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s contention to Fox News that he aggressively walked back his comments at the World Economic Forum during a phone call with Trump on Monday.
“To be absolutely clear, and I said this to the president, I meant what I said in Davos,” Carney said to reporters as he arrived for a Cabinet meeting in the capital, Ottawa.“Canada was the first country to understand the change in U.S.
trade policy that he initiated, and we’re responding to that.”In Davos at the World Economic Forum last week, Carney condemned economic coercion by great powers on smaller countries without mentioning Trump’s name.
The prime minister received widespread praise and attention for his remarks, upstaging Trump at the gathering.Trump threatened this past weekend to impose a 100% tariff on goods imported from Canada if America’s northern neighbor went ahead with a trade deal with Beijing, though Carney has said Canada has no interest in negotiating a comprehensive trade deal with Beijing.Carney said Trump called him.“I explained to him our arrangement with China.
I explained to him what we’re doing — 12 new deals, four continents, in six months,” Carney said.“He was impressed.”Trump’s threat came amid an escalating war of words with Carney.
The Republican president’s push to acquire Greenland strained the NATO alliance, alarming Canada, which shares a 3,000-kilometer (1,864 mile) maritime border with Greenland in the Arctic.Trump has also previously talked about making Canada the 51st state.Carney has said his recent agreement with China merely cuts tariffs that were recently imposed on a few sectors.
The prime minister plans to travel to India, Austra...