Newly minted Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney declared Thursday that his country's long-standing economic and security relationship with the United States has ended, vowing a forceful response to President Donald Trump's decision to impose sweeping new tariffs on foreign car imports, including those from Canada, The Hill reported.
The Liberal Party leader said Thursday that Canada's historic economic partnership with the United States is over, promising a firm response after Trump announced a 25% tariff on foreign car imports set to take effect April 2.
"The old relationship we had with the United States based on deepening integration of our economies and tight security and military cooperation is over," Carney said at a news conference.
"We can give ourselves much more than any foreign government, including the United States, can ever take away," he said. "We can deal with this crisis best by building our strength right here at home. It will take hard work. It will take steady and focused determination from governments, from businesses, from labor, from Canadians. We will need to dramatically reduce our reliance on the United States."
Trump announced the tariff policy Wednesday, stating that imported auto parts not produced domestically would be subject to the new duties.
"It will lead cars to be made in one location," Trump said. While analysts warn the policy could drive up car prices soon, he insisted it would boost domestic jobs and manufacturing.
Carney described the measure as a "direct attack" on Canadian workers. Speaking Thursday after visiting Unifor labor union members at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ontario, he said the bridge once symbolized the tight economic bond between the two nations.
"This is a direct attack, to be clear, a direct attack on the very workers that I stood in front of, Unifor workers I stood in front of this morning at the Ambassador Bridge, a bridge that is a symbol and a reality up until now, of the tight ties between our two countries — ties of kinship, ties of commerce, ties that are in the process of being broken," Carney said.
On Thursday morning, Trump responded on Truth Social, warning of broader trade penalties if Canada and the European Union coordinate efforts against the United States.
"If the European Union works with Canada in order to do economic harm to the USA, large scale Tariffs, far larger than currently planned, will be placed on them both in order to protect the best friend that each of those two countries has ever had," Trump wrote.
"We will fight the U.S. tariffs with retaliatory trade actions of our own that will have maximum impact in the United States and minimum impacts here in Canada," Carney said. "We will protect our workers and our industries during this difficult period, but above all, we will build a new Canadian economy. We will build Canada strong."
Carney added that Canada must now "pivot our trade relationships elsewhere" and move with urgency to adapt.
"We will need to do things previously thought impossible at speeds we haven't seen in generations," he said.