Carney says he'll resume negotiating when Trump team has the 'right attitude'

Carney says he'll resume negotiating when Trump team has the 'right attitude'

Trump's new tariff threat shows U.S. wants to crush Canadian industry, PM says

Prime Minister Mark Carney says he's prepared to send his negotiators back to the table with the Trump administration when the U.S. demonstrates it wants a true economic partnership and stops treating Canada as a "subsidiary."

"When the Americans go to the negotiating table first, with the right attitude towards our industries and in a true partnership, of course we'll come to the negotiating table," Carney said in Lévis, Que., on Monday.

The prime minister noted that there's already a trade agreement in place between Canada and the U.S. (CUSMA). While Carney said it's a good deal, he also said it can be improved for all parties. But for that to happen, he said, the U.S. can't continue threatening to impoverish Canada's companies and citizens.

"An attitude at the negotiating table that Canada is a subsidiary of the United States, that Canadian industry is going to be disadvantaged relative to American industry, that we're going to set up terms, so that over time, Canadian industry is going to face constant headwinds — that's not something we are going to accept," Carney said.

Carney says 'it's not a surprise' U.S. responded with more 'unjustified tariffs'

On Friday night, Carney announced Canada was walking away from the negotiating table after the U.S. team introduced "last-minute changes" that the government deemed "unfair" and "uneconomic."

Those demands, Carney said on Saturday, would have restricted Canada's ability to sign trade deals with other countries and threatened the French language by undermining subsidies to French-language media and the requirement for bilingual product labelling.

About $28 billion in Canadian exports to the U.S. were hit with 50 per cent tariffs over the weekend.

The prime minister also said that the auto deal the U.S. wanted to strike would have degraded the industry over time, something he could not accept.

U.S. President Donald Trump posted on social media on Monday that tariffs on Canadian automobiles, car parts and steel will increase to 50 per cent on Jan. 1.

"Canada will be treated like a State no longer!" he wrote.

Ottawa says they'll negotiate with the U.S. when they come back with 'the right attitude' and 'a real offer'

Carney says trade deal became untenable when U.S. 'asked too much and offered too little'

Mark Carney doesn't stop the United States from driving negotiations over a cliff

When asked for his reaction to Trump's latest threat, Carney said not only was Trump's counterpunch not surprising, but it was further evidence of the administration's endgame.

"During these negotiations, we have seen that the Americans want to destroy our large industries, including the automobile industry and aluminum industries, with negotiating terms that are unfair," Carney said in French.

"That is one of the main reasons why we said no and walked away. It was a bad deal."

In multiple media appearances on Monday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford suggested that Canada should impose a surcharge on electricity in response to Trump's latest tariffs.

"We aren't the only one that sends electricity down to the U.S. New Brunswick does, Quebec does, B.C. does, Manitoba does, just to name a few," Ford said in Hamilton.

"We need to get together, all together and decide if we're going to put surcharges on the electricity."

The premier justified such a move by saying it's making less and less sense to send energy down to the U.S. so it can be used to create products that compete with Canadian-made products.

When asked if he supported that move, Carney responded that U.S. depends on Canada for energy, critical minerals, key auto parts and other industrial products — despite Trump's claims to the contrary.

"But we're going to remain calm, we're going to remain positive … and yes, if it's necessary to do other things we will see. But we are beginning with positive initiatives such as this one today," Carney said.

The prime minister was in Lévis to announce $11.3 billion in funding for Quebec's shipbuilding industry to build six new icebreakers for the Canadian Coast Guard using Canadian steel.

Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette, who was also at the event, said for now her province was going to focus on what it can do to make the economy stronger, and hasn't yet considered putting surcharges on energy bound for the U.S.

"Nothing is off the table. We're entering a new phase," Fréchette said.

While Carney said his team will only return to the negotiation table under certain conditions, U.S. Vice-President JD Vance attended a rally in Brewer, Maine, Monday during which he suggested talks "were still ongoing and I want to be respectful to the process."

Canada won't accept being 'subsidiary' of the U.S.: Carney

Vance echoed comments made by his president saying Canada and China are the two "worst countries when it comes to trade policy anywhere in the world."

The vice-president referred initially to Canada as a "state," appearing to genuinely correct himself to say "country" before going on to describe his northern neighbour as ungrateful.

"Canada is a country that has underinvested in its military, that would quite literally would get invaded by a foreign country were it not for the umbrella of protection provided by the United States of America," he said.

"How does Canada actually respond to that? By treating the people of Maine fairly? No. They apply ridiculous tariffs and other non-tariff duties on Maine products coming into Canada and they don't expect Maine or anybody else to fight back? We're sick of that," he said.

Peter Zimonjic is a senior writer for CBC News who reports for digital, radio and television. He has worked as a reporter and columnist in London, England, for the Telegraph, Times and Daily Mail, and in Canada for the Ottawa Citizen, Torstar and Sun Media. He is the author of Into The Darkness: An Account of 7/7, published by Vintage.