Carney pitched himself as the leader to handle Trump. Now he's off to Washington

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney is travelling to Washington to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump to talk trade and security, as the president shows no sign of letting up on comments about coveting Canada as a state.  Joining Carney will be International Trade and Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc, along with Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly and Public Safety Minister David McGuinty. Carney will name his new cabinet later this month. The high-stakes trip comes after an election campaign in which Carney pitched himself as the leader best suited to steer the country through the economic headwinds caused by the Trump administration’s protectionist policies. Vehicles and auto-parts not covered by the free trade agreement between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico have been subject to 25 per cent U.S. tariffs since last month. The same goes for Canadian imports and energy products, not covered by the deal, save for energy exports, which are subject to a 10 per cent levy. Back in March, the president’s 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum also took effect, with the White House giving no carveout for Canada. The federal government has responded by hitting back with retaliatory tariffs on billions of dollars’ worth of U.S. goods. The effects of the U.S-launched trade war were underscored last week when General Motors announced it would be transitioning to a two-shift operation from a three-shift operation in the fall, jeopardizing upwards of 700 jobs, according to Unifor. Carney, who has spoken with Trump by phone, told reporters at his first post-election press conference last Friday that dealing with the Canada-U.S. relationship was his first priority as prime minister. “As I’ve stressed repeatedly, our old relationship based on steadily increasing integration is over,” Carney said last week. “The questions now are how our nations will co-operate in the future, and where we, in Canada, will move on.” Diversifying Canada’s trade away from the U.S. is one of the goals Carney has set for the country. Same with bolstering its own economic power by working with premiers to tear down interprovincial trade barriers and remove federal trade barriers by Canada Day. On Monday, Trump expressed a bit of bafflement about Carney’s visit. “I’m not sure what he wants to see me about,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “But I guess he wants to make a deal.” Ahead of his trip to Washington, Carney spoke with President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and President of the European Council António Costa. Carney has said he was preparing for a “comprehensive set of meetings” to take place Tuesday, which others members of the Trump administration would also attend. While he said his focus would be on the “immediate trade pressures” Canada faces in terms of tariffs, he also wanted to discuss the two countries’ broader relationship. The existing free-trade agreement between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, which was negotiated during Trump’s first term in office, replacing the previous North American Free Trade Agreement, is scheduled for review in 2026. Carney said last week his trip to Washington comes after a “very constructive” discussion with the president after his election victory, in which the pair agreed to discuss trade and security. The prime minister said Trump did not raise the idea of Canada becoming a 51st state during the call. The president did, however, reiterate this remains his desire, according to an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press, which aired Sunday. Trump told the network he found Carney to be “a very nice man” and congratulated him on his election win. Asked directly if the president plans to raise the issue of annexing Canada, Trump said “I’ll always talk about that.” He then repeated his since-debunked statement that the U.S. subsidizes Canada “to the tune of $200 billion” annually. “We don’t need anything that they have,” Trump told NBC. “If Canada was a state, it wouldn’t cost us, it would be great. It would be a cherished state.” The president also repeated earlier statements he made that he considers the Canada-U.S. boundary to be an “artificial line” “What a beautiful country it would be. It would be great,” Trump said. The president also told NBC while he is not prepared to rule out using military force to fulfill his desire to annex Greenland, which he said the U.S. wants for national and international security reasons, he did not say the same for Canada. “Well, I think we’re not going to ever get to that point,” Trump said. “I don’t see it with Canada. I just don’t see it. I have to be honest with you.” The president also took aim at Canada’s military spending. “They think we are going to protect them and really we are, but the truth is they don’t carry their full share and it’s unfair to the United States and our taxpayers,” Trump told NBC. Carney has pledged to get Canada to reach its two per cent NATO spending target by 2030. — With additional reporting from the Associated Press National Post staylor@postmedia.com<

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