Canada PM Mark Carney vows to keep tariffs until US shows ‘respect’

Mark Carney, the incoming Canadian prime minister, has pledged not to withdraw the tariffs on the United States until the nation treats them respectfully. The former central bank chief oversees the nation while President Donald Trump’s administration applies economic pressure on Canada.

Carney received almost 86% of the vote to lead the Liberal Party of Canada, and at one point, he held top positions at the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England. Trudeau would hand the baton over to Carney, who would then have the option (though not the obligation) to call a national election shortly after taking power.

Carney caps an escalating dispute between Canada and the US. The echo of Trump’s trade policy is giving Canada headaches overnight. Trump proposed a 25% tax on many products from Canada and Mexico.

He also said he would postpone the taxes on countries in the North American trade agreement for one month. He subsequently threatened new tariffs on Canadian lumber and milk. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Sunday that he expected to place 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports on March 12.

With Canada’s economy heavily reliant on trade with the US, Trump has openly vowed to use economic pressure to keep the country aligned with American interests. His aggressive stance has sparked outrage across Canada, fueling calls to boycott US goods and prompting Ottawa lawmakers to reassess the nation’s trade partnerships. Carney cautioned that Trump’s threats cannot buy off Canada.

Canada will never be part of America

On Sunday, Carney tried to do just that in his victory speech. Saying America is not Canada, he also warned that Canada “will never be part of America.”

He also likened the trade dispute with the US to a hockey game, saying Canadians always come prepared when challenged. He said Americans should not underestimate Canada; in trade, as in hockey, Canada would win.

Carney promised that Canadian retaliatory tariffs on US goods would remain as long as the American government failed to show respect and fairness in trade. He also said the proceeds from these tariffs would go toward assistance for Canadian workers.

He also addressed his plans to strengthen Canada’s economy, forge new trade relations with trusted partners, and make Canada an “energy superpower.”

During the Liberal Party leadership race, Carney positioned himself as an experienced leader who knew how to deal with crises. He steered Canada’s central bank through the global financial crisis and helped the U.K. during its troubled exit from the European Union. But Carney has never been an elected politician and does not currently sit in Parliament.

Carney, a former chair of Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. and Bloomberg Inc., stepped down from both roles to launch a leadership bid. As prime minister, he would seek new international markets for Canadian products and work to eliminate trade barriers inside Canada.

Carney also intends to scrap the Liberals’ planned increase in capital gains tax and abolish the consumer carbon tax. He aims to use taxpayer money to fund large-scale infrastructure projects that will invigorate Canada’s economy.

Carney’s fiscal plan involves splitting the federal budget into two halves: an operating budget that he vows to keep balanced and a capital spending budget that will allow the government to pour billions into infrastructure.

Carney said Canada had so much more to offer itself than Donald Trump could take away from it. He stressed that it would not be business as usual and that the country would have to take steps it had never previously conceived, doing them at speeds it had never considered possible.

Canada must hold an election by October, but the Liberal Party’s perilous status in Parliament, where it has fewer than 50% of the House of Commons seats, means it’s expected sooner.

Carney has to decide whether to plunge the country into a springtime election — leaving it with a caretaker government for several weeks, during which a trade war may be raging — or attempt to gain support from at least one opposition party to govern for a period of time.

Carney clashes with Poilievre over transparency, leadership, and Canada’s future

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre criticized Carney’s statement, questioning his transparency and business dealings and calling on him to reveal his financial holdings to avoid conflicts of interest.

Poilievre further accused Carney of attempting to mitigate where he steered Brookfield’s trajectory when he relocated the company’s headquarters from Toronto to New York in 2022. Carney was still the company chair at that time.

Carney responded to Poilievre’s jab in his speech. He pointed to Poilievre’s threat to oust Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem in 2022. He stated the leaders of the opposition and their critics who signed the letter are casting scorn on the work of the bank, Carney said, mentioning Poilievre and saying he would leave the bank “crippled” during an economic uncertainty. He also pressed Poilievre on climate policy.

In the Liberal attempt to replace Trudeau, Carney beat out well-known figures, including former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, former government House Leader Karina Gould, and businessman Frank Baylis. Freeland helped kill Trudeau’s political career—her resignation letter in December dealt a significant blow. Three weeks later, Trudeau said that he would resign.

Trudeau delivered what may be his last political address as prime minister to the Liberal Party gathering in Ottawa. He called on Liberals to hold firm against the threats presented by Trump’s government.

“Let there be no mistake, this is a nation-defining moment,” Trudeau said. “Democracy is not a given. Freedom is not a given. Even Canada is not a given.”

So Canadians must wait and see whether those bonds deepen — or wither — as Carney takes the reins.

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