Washington/Toronto—
Mark Carney, leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and former governor of the Bank of Canada, was sworn in as Prime Minister of Canada on Friday (March 14). He immediately said that he could work with US President Donald Trump. The most serious challenge he faces after taking office is how to deal with the tariff war with the United States. In terms of relations with China, some experts expect the new prime minister to make new efforts to improve relations with China.
Carney won a landslide victory in last week’s Liberal leadership contest, succeeding outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after nine years in office. He takes office as the United States and Canada’s trade war continues to simmer.
“We know that by building together, we can give ourselves far more than anyone else can take away,” he said after the ceremony.
“We respect President Trump — President Trump has some very important issues at the top of his agenda,” Carney told reporters after being sworn in. “We understand his agenda.”
Carney noted that he had worked with Trump at international conferences. But he said Canada would never be part of the United States, referring to President Trump’s desire for Canada to become the 51st state.
Carney, 59, was born in Fort Smith, a remote Northwest Territories region of Canada. He received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Harvard University and a doctorate from Oxford University. He worked at investment bank Goldman Sachs for 13 years and served as governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, helping Canada out of the 2008 financial crisis and helping the Bank of England deal with Brexit in 2013.
Carney is expected to call an election in the coming days, reflecting the urgency of Canada’s tariff war with the United States.
How will Carney handle the tariff war with the United States after taking office?
Colin Robertson, vice president of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute and a member of the Canada-U.S. Relations Expert Group, told VOA that based on Carney’s comments during the campaign, he will focus on diplomacy and engagement with the Trump administration, Congress and state governments. He also mentioned that Carney had said he would take counter-tariff measures against the U.S. government’s tariff actions.
However, the former Canadian diplomat admitted that Canada does not have many other ways to respond to the tariff war initiated by the United States.
“Tariffs and export fees are taxes that consumers and taxpayers ultimately pay,” he said. “Unfortunately, short of military action, there aren’t a lot of actions that can be taken to have a strong impact.”
Charles Burton, an associate professor at Brock University who specializes in comparative politics, Chinese government and politics, and Canada-China relations, believes Canada may use non-tariff means to respond to the trade war with the United States.
He told VOA: “Canada will accept any economic difficulties because its national sovereignty is threatened. Canada is likely to take non-tariff measures, such as cutting off energy exports and canceling potash fertilizer contracts for U.S. agriculture.”
How to deal with relations with China?
In addition to the United States, Canada is also facing tariff pressure from China. China announced last Saturday that it would impose tariffs on some agricultural products and food imported from Canada, which will take effect on March 20. China will impose an additional 100% tariff on Canadian canola oil, oilcakes and peas, and an additional 25% tariff on pork and aquatic products. The move is in retaliation for Canada’s tariffs on goods imported from China in October last year, including a 100% additional tax on all Chinese-made electric vehicles and a 25% additional tax on steel and aluminum imports.
China and Canada have clashed over a range of issues in recent years, from trade to technology to human rights. Relations between the two countries have hit a low point since Canada detained Meng Wanzhou, a senior executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei, in 2018. Beijing then retaliated by arresting two Canadian citizens – former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig and entrepreneur Michael Spavor – on charges of endangering national security.
Robertson expects Canada to make new efforts to improve relations with China and get out of the shadow cast on China-Canada relations by the Meng Wanzhou incident and the two Michael incidents.
“China has imposed counter-tariffs on us because we imposed 100% tariffs on Chinese electric vehicle products, which was an action taken in sync with the U.S. (Biden administration),” he said. “Given Trump’s offensive on steel, aluminum and his desire to move all manufacturing – especially automobiles – to the United States, we may reconsider this approach.”
However, he also noted that Canada’s experience dealing with Chinese state-owned enterprises and its one-party system makes it difficult to ensure compliance on issues such as transparency, dispute resolution, contract enforcement and so on.
Brock University’s Burton said it was unclear how Carney would handle relations with China, but he noted that Carney had pledged to address Chinese naval actions in the Canadian Arctic.
He also doesn’t think Canada will expand trade with China in areas such as technology, clean energy or finance.
Burton said that “China’s dishonesty in international agreements, systemic non-tariff barriers, lack of impartial rule of law, and the Chinese Communist Party’s ongoing threats to Canada’s national security and sovereignty through corruption, coercion and covert operations” are all obstacles to exchanges between the two countries.