‘I Like Carney a Lot:’ Trump Suggests the Two Sides Closer to a Deal After Ottawa Removes Retaliatory Tariffs

U.S. President Donald Trump commended Prime Minister Mark Carney for removing retaliatory tariffs against the United States, adding that the two sides will be talking again soon.

“We are working on something—we want to be very good to Canada,” the U.S. president said on Aug. 22 in Washington during an unrelated press conference, shortly after Carney said Canada would remove some retaliatory tariffs against U.S. products.

“I like Carney a lot, I think he is a good person,” Trump added.

The U.S. president added that he had a “very good talk” with the Canadian prime minister the day before, and that the two will have another call soon.

Trump said that over the years Canada and Mexico have taken a lot of business away from the United States, but due to his “tariffs and the incentives we give,” the businesses are coming back.

“It’s impossible, I think, for another country to stop it,” Trump said.

The call between Trump and Carney on Aug. 21 was the first time the two leaders had talked since the time before the Aug. 1 deadline to reach a trade deal had passed with no announcement. The day before that, Trump said Carney had called him, but that the two didn’t talk. Meanwhile, Trump spoke with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on the same day and gave her country a 90-day extension to keep tariffs at the same rate of 25 percent. But Canada’s rate was raised to 35 percent, save for products under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), with Trump citing the flow of fentanyl through the Canadian border, as well as Canada’s retaliatory measures, as the reasons.

In a press conference on Aug. 22, Carney said he is removing retaliatory tariffs against the Untied States as a goodwill gesture to resume trade talks, saying this is something the U.S. president asked for as a condition in their Aug. 21 call. He said tariffs on U.S. autos, steel, and aluminum will remain in place until a new trade deal is reached.

Ottawa imposed retaliatory tariffs on the United States after Washington imposed tariffs on Canada earlier this year, citing concerns about the flow of fentanyl and illegal immigrants through the Canadian border. Ottawa says it is taking action to tackle both issues, and that the amount of drugs through the Canadian border is miniscule, while Washington says the current amount is enough to cause millions of fatalities. Washington has also imposed global sectoral tariffs on steel, aluminum, copper, and autos, which impact Canada, as well as increased tariffs on Canadian lumber.

Carney noted that due to the vast majority of Canada’s exports to the United States falling under the USCMA and therefore being tariff-exempt, Canada already has “the best trade deal” with the United States. He added that while Ottawa had imposed the retaliatory tariffs to protect Canadian workers and to “incentivize a negotiated settlement” with Washington, his government needs to ensure it preserves “this unique advantage.”

Carney: Countries Must ‘Buy Access’ to US Market

Carney noted that Washington has several motivations to resort to tariffs, which include protecting its strategic industries, to encourage foreign investment in the United States, and to “change trade and non-trade policy in U.S.”

“The average U.S. tariff rate on the world has jumped from just over 2 percent at the end of last year to almost 16 percent,” Carney said.

The prime minister added that the negotiated trade deals other countries have signed with the United States have “limited or no relief from those sectoral tariffs in those strategic industries such as steel and oil,” give favourable trade conditions to the United States, and also feature “substantial commitments” for those countries to invest in the Untied States.

“Under the new U.S. approach, countries must now buy access to the world’s largest economy through a combination of tariffs, investments, unilateral trade liberalization, and policy changes in their home market,” Carney said.

Carney said in the case of Canada, Washington’s continued commitment to keep USMCA-compliant products for the most part tariff-exempt, even when announcing the increased 35 percent tariff on non-USMCA products, is “a positive, very important development.”

“As a result of that decision by the United States, the actual U.S. tariff on Canadians goods is 5.6 percent. Compare that to the 16 percent global average,” he said. “While it’s different from what we had before, it is still better than that of any other country.”

Carney said Ottawa’s action to remove the retaliatory tariffs, which is effective Sept. 1, is “equivalent” to what the United States has done. When challenged by reporters, the prime minister acknowledged that Canada’s tariffs on steel and aluminum aren’t to the same 50 percent level of the United States, but he said that “those are part of the intensive discussion.”

He said Canada will now be focusing on renegotiating the USMCA, which is scheduled for renewal next year.

Carney also said that his government will soon announce a “new comprehensive industrial strategy” that is mean to boost the economy and diversify export opportunities.

Carney was asked by reporters if his latest announcement marks a step back in the face of U.S. pressure, given other recent concessions as well, including Canada dropping the digital services tax that would have added costs to U.S. tech giants operating in Canada. Carney ran his recent election campaign heavily focused on standing up to Trump’s tariffs and his “51st state” comments, using the hockey metaphor “elbows up” as part of his campaign messaging. In response, Carney again used a hockey metaphor, saying there is a time in the game that there’s a need to “drop the gloves in the first period and send a message,” and that “we’ve done that pretty uniquely in the world, we happen to have the best deal with the Americans right now.”

“But there’s also a time in a game where you want the puck—you want to stick handle; you want to pass; you want to put the puck in the net. And we’re moving later into the game, we’re at that time in the game,” he said.

Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre said Carney’s removal of the counter-tariffs amounts to “yet another capitulation and climb-down by Mark Carney.”

“His elbows have mysteriously gone missing, and this call follows on other concessions,” Poilievre said at a press conference on Aug. 22.

He pushed back on the Liberal government saying it has achieved a favourable trade situation with the United States, adding that U.S. tariffs on Canada are now higher than when Carney became prime minister.

“He promised during the campaign he would have dollar-for-dollar retaliation. He pulled back,” Poilievre said.

“He made concessions on the military while getting nothing in return. He pulled back on his digital services tax—a terrible tax—but you think he’d get something in return for it, nothing. And today, he removed even almost all of the tariffs on the United States and got none lifted from Canada.”