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Economy, business and finance
‘No one is going to dictate’: Carney hits back at Trump’s trade threat, pitches ‘new alliance’ with Europe
Carney has been seeking to strengthen Canada’s relationship with Europe as tensions with the US deepen and Ottawa finds itself increasingly caught up in a trade dispute with Washington
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday brushed aside a threat of US retaliation as he called for a “new alliance” with Europe, presenting closer ties with the bloc as a way to withstand mounting external pressures.
Addressing the European Parliament, Carney welcomed the European Union’s proposal for deeper ties with Canada and said the two sides could work more closely across a range of areas, including artificial intelligence, defence and energy.
“Europe and Canada are stronger together,” AFP quoted Carney as saying during a speech that received a standing ovation.
Carney’s remarks followed European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s suggestion that Canada could become the 27-nation bloc’s first “associate member” in her annual “State of the European Union” address.
Carney later dismissed US President Donald Trump’s threat to sever trade ties with the European Union if the proposal moves forward.
“No one is going to dictate our culture, or with whom we can strike agreements internationally,” Carney said.
Relations between the European Union and the US have also faced pressure over tariffs and territorial threats.
Trump reacted sharply to von der Leyen’s proposal, describing it as “laughable” and warning that Washington could impose “very serious tariffs” or “stop trading with Europe” if Canada’s closer association with the EU goes ahead.
'Create a beacon'
The contours of the "associate member" pitch were not immediately clear as EU treaties do not envisage such a possibility - but Carney said Canada "welcomes this ambition".
Von der Leyen had emphasised the partnership was "not against anyone else, but for our common strength," and Carney likewise sought to reassure Washington the alliance would not be antagonistic but a "positive" initiative.
"We do not seek power to dominate others," he said - while suggesting the alliance could "create a beacon for other democracies".
"We are pursuing resilience so no one, no one can control our open markets, impair our sovereignty, threaten our territorial integrity, or undermine our freedoms, our democracies, our rule of law," he said.
Carney's visit to Strasbourg was meant to act as a catalyst ahead of an EU-Canada summit in Montreal next month.
Canada could help Europe secure supplies of critical raw materials and contribute towards its energy needs with liquified natural gas and hydrogen "at large scale", Carney said, offering deeper cooperation on "the full range of strategic capabilities" including AI, compute, space and payments.
The two parties should move towards "seamless digital trade" and allow their young people to work and study on either side of the Atlantic, he said.
In her own speech Wednesday, von der Leyen similarly talked about forming a "tech alliance", integrating defence industrial bases and making the Arctic "a flagship joint project".
What's in a name?
The idea of creating a new "associate" status short of full membership was first floated by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz this year for Ukraine.
Under that plan Kyiv would have benefited from parts of the EU budget, attended the bloc's summits and had a representative in the European Commission -- but no full voting rights.
Terminology aside, Carney told reporters: "What matters is the substance -- what are we actually building together?"
EU rules demand that member states approve any form of partnership with a non-EU country, and it was unclear how much support von der Leyen's proposal would receive from capitals.
The EU and Canada already have the CETA free-trade agreement, which abolished almost all tariffs. Trade in goods and services have jumped more than 80 percent since 2016.
And this year Canada became the first non-EU country to join a flagship defence loan programme.
One EU official said the bloc needed to be "realistic and pragmatic" about what more it could achieve.
But a European diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity said EU countries were keen to keep strengthening ties with Canada, regardless of terminology.
"Carney came here to strengthen his cards vis a vis the US. Ursula helped him," the diplomat said. "Trump's reaction shows they already won."