Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Sunday that he has no intention of signing a free trade agreement with China, after his United States counterpart, Donald Trump, threatened to impose 100% tariffs on the neighboring country if such a trade pact was signed with Beijing.
“By virtue of the T-MEC (trilateral trade treaty that includes Mexico, Canada and the USA), we are committed not to seek free trade agreements with non-market economies without prior notification. We have no intention of doing so with China or any other non-market economy,” explained Carney in statements to the press.
His words come one day after Trump stated on social media that, if Canada reaches a free trade framework with China, it will impose “a 100% tariff on all Canadian goods and products entering the US.”
Carney specified that the objective of the agreements reached on his recent visit to Beijing is to “correct some problems that have arisen in the last two years” in exchanges with the Asian giant in sectors such as agriculture, fishing and electric vehicles.
In this sense, he recalled that Ottawa has just stipulated a maximum annual quota of 49,000 of these automobiles to enter Canada at reduced rates.
“This is fully consistent with the T-MEC agreement and with our obligations, which we deeply respect under that treaty,” added the Canadian Prime Minister.
When asked today why Trump – who less than ten days ago was in favor of a Canada-China deal – had suddenly attacked Ottawa, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent seemed to point to Carney’s recent speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
“I’m not sure what Prime Minister Carney is doing other than trying to appear virtuous to his globalist friends in Davos. I don’t think he’s doing what’s best for the Canadian people,” Bessent said in an interview with ABC.
In his Davos speech, Carney stated that middle powers must work together to resist harassment and economic coercion from great powers. Although he did not name Trump at any point, many analysts point out that his words may have angered the American president.
In turn, Bessent highlighted to “ABC” that Ottawa is obliged to comply with the T-MEC guidelines and was in favor of imposing 100% tariffs on Canada if the neighboring country becomes “a gateway for the Chinese to flood the US with their cheap products”
