Prime Minister Mark Carney will be watched closely by Canadians infuriated by Donald Trump — and by an anxious business community looking for tariff relief — when he meets with the U.S. president Tuesday in Washington.
After months of Trump’s annexation threats, the newly elected prime minister will be tasked with a delicate balancing act — showing strength while maintaining Canada’s place in a critical North American trade pact the president’s tariffs have sought to upend.
“My government will fight to get the best deal for Canada,” Carney said Friday in his first news conference since the election.
The Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on trade, called CUSMA, was negotiated during the first Trump administration. Trump at the time called it the best deal ever and Canadian officials declared it a victory for Canada.
CUSMA is up for review next year — but after Trump’s return to the White House, it quickly became clear the president intended to rattle the continental trade pact.
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