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🇺🇸 United States /Economy & Trade

Carney says Canada is moving away from U.S. reliance as tariffs take effect

From PBS NewsHour · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Newswire From a news agency Ongoing story
  • Canada imposed retaliatory tariffs on about $20 billion worth of U.S. goods as Prime Minister Mark Carney said Ottawa would reduce its economic reliance on Washington.
  • Carney said decades of integration had created excessive dependence and defended matching the latest U.S. measures dollar for dollar.
  • Canada plans to increase investment, infrastructure spending and trade diversification, while the United States could impose further restrictions on Canadian products.

Canada is preparing to loosen its economic ties with the United States as a new round of retaliatory tariffs takes effect and Ottawa waits to see how President Donald Trump responds.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a prerecorded video that four decades of deeper integration had left Canada too dependent on its southern neighbor. “In too many areas, they wanted dependency, not a true economic partnership,” he said.

In too many areas, they wanted dependency, not a true economic partnership.

· Mark CarneyCanada’s prime minister described the imbalance he said had developed in the economic relationship with the United States.

Carney acknowledged that the shift would bring short-term pain. But he argued that remaining still would cost more, as his government accelerates investment, infrastructure development and efforts to diversify trade. Canada has been steering its economy toward what he called more reliable partners after relying too heavily on a single market.

For the past year and a half, we have been steering our economy toward trusted partners.

· Mark CarneyCarney outlined Canada’s efforts to diversify its trade relationships.

“For the past year and a half, we have been steering our economy toward trusted partners,” Carney said. “It was easy business, but it meant we relied too much on one economic partner. That time is over.”

Ottawa said it was matching the latest U.S. measures dollar for dollar while supporting affected workers and industries. “We can't let American goods into Canada tariff-free while they charge our companies to export to them,” Carney said. He insisted Canada did not seek to escalate the confrontation, but said tariffs were necessary to protect Canadian workers.

It was easy business, but it meant we relied too much on one economic partner. That time is over.

· Mark CarneyHe said Canada would move away from its longstanding dependence on the U.S. market.

Carney also defended Canada’s decision to end talks, saying Washington had sought limits involving French-language and cultural protections, influence over future trade agreements, and terms that could weaken the auto, steel and forestry sectors. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer has suggested that Washington could respond by blocking some Canadian products from the U.S. market.

We can't let American goods into Canada tariff-free while they charge our companies to export to them.

· Mark CarneyCarney defended Canada’s retaliatory tariffs.
About this summary

Originally published by PBS NewsHour in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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