Carney says there’s a ‘limit’ to U.S. tariff response, says Canada ‘can stand up for ourselves’

With Canada in the midst of a trade war with the U.S. and facing ongoing sovereignty attacks from U.S. President Donald Trump, Mark Carney – in his first foreign trip as prime minister – aimed to deepen and develop trading ties with the United Kingdom and France, while also admitting “there is a limit” to Canada’s tariff response to the U.S.

In a whirlwind trip on Monday, Carney first met with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, followed by an audience with King Charles III and a meeting with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London, England.

Speaking to reporters following those meetings, Carney was asked multiple times about whether Canada’s allies should be speaking up more against Trump’s attacks on Canada’s sovereignty.

“We can stand up for ourselves. It’s Canada strong. We can stand up for ourselves. We’ve called out those comments,” Carney said, adding that “we don’t need another country to validate our sovereignty.”

Carney also pointed to comments Starmer made on Monday.

“The relationship between our two countries has always been strong,” Starmer told Carney inside the British leader’s 10 Downing St. residence. “Two sovereign allies, so much in common — a shared history, shared values, shared King.”

During his press conference, Carney – who supports dollar-for-dollar retaliation – was also asked how far he is willing to go to hit back against the U.S. as the deadline for Trump’s reciprocal tariffs approaches on April 2, along with his looming pledge to slap 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian imports.

The prime minister admitted “there is a limit” to how Canada can respond, due to the varying sizes of the two economies.

“We are not going to take an action that we think is not ultimately going to influence the United States, and certainly not one that is outright harmful to Canada given the overall approach,” Carney said. “So this will be very deliberate and there is a limit. There’s a limit to matching these tariffs, dollar -for-dollar, given the fact that our economy is a 10th the size the United States.”

Canada a ‘reliable, trustworthy partner’: Carney

Earlier in the day, Carney met with Macron and emphasized Canada’s shared values with France, while also calling Canada a “reliable, trustworthy and strong partner.”

“I want to ensure that France, and the whole of Europe, works enthusiastically with Canada, the most European of non-European countries, and at the same time resolutely North American, determined, like you, to maintain the most positive relations possible with the United States,” Carney said.

Speaking in French, Macron called Canada a “unique friend to us” and acknowledged Canada’s support to Europe since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“I think the message, subtle or otherwise, is that Canada has good friends around the world. It is also a very good friend of the United States, but we all know what is going on there,” a senior government source told reporters in a background briefing ahead of Monday’s meetings.

In addition to fighting the trade war with the U.S., officials said part of the visit would involve exploring supply chains for products that partner countries may need.

While free trade talks between Canada and the United Kingdom have been stalled for months, as only a continuity agreement exists since the U.K. withdrew from the European Union, Carney said that issue was not his “top priority” in his meeting with Starmer.

France, meanwhile, has not yet ratified the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). The trade agreement was signed in 2016 and has been provisionally applied since 2017. France is Canada’s third largest merchandise trading partner in the EU with two-way merchandise trade totalling $14.2 billion.

Asked by reporters on Monday about Carney’s trip, and whether he should have gone to Washington, D.C. instead, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre did not answer directly but said “meetings will alone will not diversify our trade.”

Poilievre also criticized the Liberals for not getting products like liquefied natural gas “over the Atlantic,” adding “I would have liked to (have) seen Mr. Carney come home with a natural gas supply agreement signed with the French the way the Qataris have done.”

In a phone call on Sunday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Carney also reaffirmed support for Ukraine in the war against Russia. Carney has invited Zelenskyy to join other world leaders at the G7 summit this June when it is held in Kananaskis, Alta.

On Tuesday, Carney will wrap his trip with a stop in Iqaluit, Nunavut.