On Tuesday, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney described his meeting with US President Trump as “very constructive” after their discussions at the White House. Carney stated that they had a wide-ranging and constructive conversation and that they plan to meet again at the G7 summit in Canada in June.
After meeting with Trump at the White House on Tuesday, Carney visited the Canadian Embassy in the US and spoke to the media there. He reported that the meeting with Trump was just the first in a series of discussions. Carney mentioned that they agreed to continue dialogues in the coming weeks and looked forward to meeting during the G7 summit in Canada.
As of now, Trump has not publicly confirmed his attendance at the upcoming summit.
Carney also mentioned that following the meeting with Trump, he felt better about certain aspects of US-Canada relations and emphasized that the breadth of discussions showed both countries are seeking solutions.
“When you seek solutions, you have these discussions, rather than setting terms,” he said, believing that the meeting with Trump had laid a good foundation for advancing economic and security relations.
He added that with the Canadian elections concluded, it was now time to engage in serious discussions and follow through on specific matters.
During the Oval Office meeting, Trump told reporters that Carney could not convince him to lift tariffs regardless of what was said, while Carney indicated that the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement formed the basis for broader negotiations.
“We await further developments,” Carney said.
Since taking office as President of the United States in January, Trump has consistently mentioned imposing higher tariffs on some Canadian goods, including a 250% tariff on dairy products. Currently, most Canadian exports to the US face a 25% tariff (excluding goods governed by the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement), while steel, aluminum, automobiles, and auto parts from Canada are also subject to a 25% tariff. Canada, in turn, has imposed retaliatory tariffs on around $43 billion worth of US goods.