Carney said Canada has no plans to sign a free trade deal with China because of Trump’s threat of tariffs

TORONTO (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Sunday his country has no intention of striking a free trade deal with China. He was responding to US President Donald Trump’s threat to impose 100% tariffs on Canadian imports if a trade deal with Beijing’s northern neighbor goes ahead.

Carney said his latest deal with China only cuts tariffs in some areas recently hit with tariffs.

Trump claimed otherwise, “China has successfully and completely taken over the once great country of Canada. So sad to see this happen. I just hope they leave ice hockey alone! President DJT”

The Prime Minister said that under the free trade agreement with the US and Mexico, there is a commitment not to enter into a free trade agreement with a non-market economy without prior notice.

“We have no intention of doing that with China or any other non-market economy,” Carney said. “What we’ve done with China is to improve some of the issues that have developed over the last two years.”

In 2024, Canada mirrored the United States by imposing 100% tariffs on electric vehicles and 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum from Beijing. China responded by imposing import duties of 100% on Canadian canola oil and meal, and 25% on pork and seafood.

Breaking with the United States during a visit to China this month, Carney offered a 100% tariff cut on Chinese electric cars in exchange for lower tariffs on those Canadian products.

Carney said Chinese EV exports to Canada would have an initial annual cap of 49,000 vehicles at a tariff rate of 6.1%, rising to about 70,000 over five years. He noted that there is no cap before 2024. He said Chinese EV imports initially account for 3% of the 1.8 million vehicles sold annually in Canada, and that in return China expects to start investing in the Canadian auto industry within three years.

Trump posted a video on Sunday in which the chief executive of the Canadian Automobile Manufacturers Association warned that there would be no Canadian auto industry without U.S. access, while noting that the Canadian market alone is too small to justify large-scale production from China.

“Must see. Canada is systematically destroying itself. The China deal is a disaster for them. Will go down as the worst deal in history, of any kind. All their businesses are moving to the USA. I want to see Canada survive and thrive! President DJT,” Trump posted on social media.

Trump’s Saturday post said that if Carney “thinks Canada is going to be a ‘drop off port’ for China to ship goods and products to the United States, he is dead wrong.”

“We can’t let Canada become an opening for the Chinese to pour their cheap goods into America,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant said on ABC’s “This Week.”

“We have (the United States-Mexico-Canada agreement), but based on that, which is going to be renegotiated this summer, and I’m not sure what Prime Minister Carney is doing here, other than trying to virtue-signal his global friends in Davos.”

Trump’s threat came amid an escalating war of words with Carney as the Republican president strained the Nato alliance over its takeover of Greenland.

Carney has emerged as the leader of a movement of countries seeking ways to engage and counter the US under Trump. Speaking in Davos before Trump, Carney said, “Middle powers have to work together because if you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu” and he warned of coercion by major powers, without mentioning Trump by name. The prime minister received widespread praise and attention for his comments, elevating Trump to the world economic stage.

Trump’s push to acquire Greenland comes as he has repeatedly asserted Canada’s sovereignty and suggested it be annexed by the United States as the 51st state. He posted an altered image on social media this week showing a map of the United States that includes Canada, Venezuela, Greenland and Cuba as its territories.