(L-R) Mark Carney, Canada PM; and Donald Trump, US President
Credit: Reuters Photos
President Donald Trump toned down his rhetoric about Canada on Friday after his first telephone call with its new prime minister, Mark Carney.
References to the "governor" of the 51st US state that once punctuated Trump's social media posts about Justin Trudeau, the previous prime minister, were absent, and the president instead used Carney's proper title and his given name.
And after offering positive comments online, the president later suggested to reporters that Canada was not among the nations he believed have treated the United States unfairly in trade.
Trump has promised to impose April 2 a variety of tariffs on American trading partners, including new ones against Canada. "Many countries have taken advantage of us," but not Canada, Trump said.
He added: "I think things will work out very well between Canada and the United States."
Earlier, in a social media post, the president described his call with Carney on Friday as "an extremely productive call; we agree on many things."
Carney, the former central banker of England and Canada, became prime minister March 14 after succeeding Trudeau as leader of the Liberal Party. Carney is now in the midst of an election campaign in which the dominant issues have been the response to Trump's trade policy targeting Canada and the anger over the president's repeated calls for the country's annexation.
After Trump announced earlier this week a 25 per cent tariff on imported cars and parts, Carney suggested Thursday that Canada would reevaluate its interdependent economic relationship with its neighbour because "it is clear that the United States is no longer a reliable partner."
Carney added: "It is possible that, with comprehensive negotiations, we will be able to restore some trust. But there will be no turning back."
After Friday's conversation, Carney also took a less inflammatory approach to relations with the United States. At a campaign event in Montreal, he said that the call was "positive, cordial, constructive -- exactly what we want."
"We made progress today, but this is the beginning of negotiations," Carney said, adding that the president did not offer to remove the auto tariff on Canada, or the tariffs on Canadian steel or aluminum.
Both leaders said that they had agreed, as Trump put it, "to begin comprehensive negotiations about a new economic and security relationship" after the Canadian election April 28.
In the interim, Carney said that talks between Howard Lutnick, Trump's commerce secretary, and Dominic LeBlanc, Canada's trade minister, "will intensify to address immediate concerns."
The president's repeated calls for annexation did not come up, Carney said.
"The president respected Canada's sovereignty today," Carney said.
However, not all of the Trump administration's talk about Canada on Friday was positive.
When asked if the United States still intended to impose tariffs on Canada next week, Trump said he would "absolutely follow through."
And in Greenland, Vice President J D Vance echoed Trump's earlier complaints about Canada, saying that it has imposed "an unfair set of rules" on the United States. He also said, "There is no way that Canada can win a trade war with the United States."
Asked about the apparent change in tone from Trump toward Canada, Pierre Poilievre, the Conservative leader and Carney's nearest rival in next month's election, said that "it's clear that the president would like to keep the Liberals in power."
"They've been very good for his agenda," Poilievre said. "He wants to take our money and our jobs, and Liberals have helped him do it."