Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump had a “productive and wide-ranging conversation” on Thursday, according to a readout from the Prime Minister’s Office.
The two discussed trade and “a new economic and security relationship.” They also spoke about “long-term peace” in Ukraine and Europe and agreed to meet again soon. Senior government sources tell CTV News that Carney was the one who initiated the call and described the conversation as “lengthy” and “substantive.” The conversation comes amid an ongoing and protracted trade war between Canada and the United States, and three weeks after the two countries blew past a self-imposed deadline to reach a new economic and security deal. Trump launched the trade war in February with an initial slate of sweeping tariffs, which he said was in response to border concerns, accusing Canada of allowing fentanyl to cross into the United States. On Aug. 1, when Carney and Trump failed to reach a new deal, the U.S. president increased levies to 35 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods. Most products are, however, exempt from the levies because of the free trade deal between the two countries.
Trump has also imposed global sectoral tariffs on steel, aluminum, copper and automobiles, to which Canadian goods are subject without carve-outs.
Canada also has a series of countertariffs in place, as well as measures to support the industries most affected by the trade dispute, with the federal government working to diversify its export markets to help insulate the Canadian economy from an over-reliance on the United States. Several provinces, meanwhile, have removed U.S. alcohol from liquor store shelves, and Canadians en masse have reduced travel south of the border.
Source: ctvnews.ca/politics/
