By Michael S. Derby and Maria Cheng
NEW YORK, May 28 (Reuters) – Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney called for a “new partnership” with the United States to “help make America great again,” in a speech delivered in New York on Thursday.
Carney said that while the world is undergoing a “rupture” as the U.S. transforms its commercial relationships, working closely with Canada in specific sectors, including aluminum, automobiles and critical minerals, would strengthen both countries.
Amid an ongoing trade war with the U.S., Carney has vowed to double Canadian exports to other markets in the next decade and signed more than 20 economic and security deals in the last year. As Carney spoke in New York, U.S. trade officials were in Mexico City in talks with officials there about overhauling the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade. The discussions for now exclude Canada.
After President Donald Trump’s threats to annex Canada as the 51st state, Carney described Canada’s ties to the U.S. as “weaknesses we must correct” and said the U.S. had fundamentally changed its approach to trade, raising tariffs to levels last seen during the Great Depression.
In January, Carney referred to “American hegemony” in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, saying that greater integration with great powers created “vulnerabilities to be exploited.” He called for middle powers to act together, adding that “if we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu.”
CONCILIATORY TONE
Earlier this week, Carney announced plans for Canada to buy a fleet of military planes from Sweden, in a pivot from the country’s past reliance on American manufacturers.
In New York, however, the prime minister adopted a more conciliatory tone, describing the U.S. as “the most dynamic, resilient and inventive country the world has ever known.” He said the founding values of the U.S. – liberty, democracy, justice and openness – “should continue to serve as guides to its future and that of the world.”
Carney acknowledged that while the U.S. and Canada have had disputes, the countries have always worked through them, and that a more independent Canada makes the country a better ally.
“At a time of a global energy crisis, Canada provides the United States with the reliable power and critical minerals that help fuel American growth,” Carney said.
Asked about his January trip to Beijing to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, Carney said they accomplished “a very basic reset of the relationship.” Ties to China had broken down under his predecessor, former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Carney said he told Xi privately that as a rising power, China needs to assume more responsibility for the global monetary and financial system, including the role of China’s currency.
“They need to work more rapidly and more deliberately on it,” Carney said. “We need to help them move away from the margins.”
(Reporting by Michael Derby in New York and Maria Cheng in Ottawa; Editing by Ismail Shakil, Rod Nickel)
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