Carney says he stands by Davos speech amid U.S. claims he walked back his comments in call with Trump

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters on Tuesday he stands by his recent Davos speech that implicitly criticized the United States, after U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent told Fox News the prime minister walked back his remarks while speaking to the U.S. president.

“I said this to the president, I meant what I said in Davos,” said Carney. “It was a broader set of issues that Canada was the first country to understand the change in U.S. trade policy that he initiated, and we’re responding to that.”

Despite the prime minister’s office not releasing a readout of the call that occurred on Monday, Carney confirmed Trump called him to discuss a wide range of subjects, including Venezuela, Ukraine and Arctic security. He added that it was a “good conversation” with the president.

“I explained to him our arrangement with China,” said Carney. “I explained to him what we’re doing, 12 new deals on four continents in six months, he was impressed.”

Carney said he also spoke to Trump about the opportunity to move forward on the Canada-United-States-Mexico-Agreement (CUSMA).

Dominic LeBlanc, the minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade, told reporters on Monday that he spoke with United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer about Canada’s deal with China and said that Canada remains committed to the North American trade pact.

On Saturday, Trump threatened a 100 per cent tariff on Canadian goods if Canada moved forward on a free trade deal with China. Trump also referred to Carney as “Governor Carney” in the social media post.

LeBlanc said he plans to visit Washington in the coming weeks and that work on the CUSMA review is already underway.

National Post

• David Kusnet: Mark Carney's improbable, history-making speech in Davos
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