Canada PM Carney says trade talks can resume if US stops ‘throwing shade’

OTTAWA – Prime Minister Mark Carney said he still believes there’s a “mutually beneficial” trade deal to be done with the US, but discussions can’t resume while Trump administration officials are publicly insulting Canada.Carney, speaking on the morning of Sept 1 to reporters in Ottawa, was asked about US President Donald Trump’s move to rename Lake Ontario to Lake America, along with other comments from US officials denigrating Canada’s military and economy.“There’s a positive opportunity that has always existed with the United States for a mutually beneficial trade deal that respects Canadian sovereignty,” the prime minister said.“When the Americans stop doing memes, stop throwing shade, stop trying to be tough and start being serious about having those discussions, we can have those discussions.”Asked specifically about remarks from members of Trump’s Cabinet insulting Canada’s armed forces, Carney called those comments “beneath their office.”On the night of Aug 31, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth made a post mocking two women in a Canadian youth cadet programme.Earlier on Aug 31, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent scoffed at the idea the US was in a trade war with its northern neighbour, asking if Canada was going to “take their two submarines from the Edmonton mall and sic them on us.”That’s a reference to a visitor attraction that was removed from the West Edmonton Mall in 2005.Trade talks between the US and Canada broke down on Aug 21, and Trump imposed 50 per cent tariffs on US$20 billion (S$25.46 billion) worth of Canadian imports the next day.Canada has announced retaliatory duties set to take effect Sept 8 on a roughly equal amount of US goods. Speaking on Sept 1, Carney said the talks collapsed due to an “accumulation of issues,” including on proposed tariff arrangements affecting key industries such as auto manufacturing. US officials have taken the view that those sectors “would be subsidiaries, effectively, of the United States’ industries, or would put in place terms where those industries would be gradually wound down in Canada,” Carney said.“We’re not going to accept those terms.”Carney added that Trump’s attempt to crush Canada’s auto industry is also “misguided.”“The United States auto industry is made stronger by the Canadian and the Mexican auto industries. And at a time of big, big change in autos, it’s important that we work together,” he said.There were elements of that cooperation in the trade talks in August, which is why Canada stayed at the table until the last moments, he said.“But we never viewed that we had that deal, and it diverged towards the end,” Carney said. “At some point, maybe it’ll converge again.” BLOOMBERG