In late May, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney had a 'maple MAGA' moment. Speaking before the Economic Club of New York, Carney claimed that 'Canada Strong will help make America great again,' combining his own political slogan with U.S. President Donald Trump's.
Painting Canada as a reliable supplier of energy and critical minerals and as a partner in an integrated North American auto market, he noted that 'the examples are legion where we should work together and compete with the world together.'
A Hollow Call for Cooperation
It is a fine sentiment, and Canada does have much of what America needs. Carney's speech, however, is a stellar example of a leader wanting to have his political cake and eat it too. The indefinitely postponed opening of the Gordie Howe bridge between Detroit and Windsor last week, as mandated by the Trump administration, suggests Carney's creative sloganeering did little to cool tensions in the relationship before the upcoming Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) review.
Relying on a metaphor for aggressive play in hockey, Carney was elected last year on the idea he would keep his 'elbows up' against Trump. And as U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer reminded us last week when speaking of the global response to tariffs, 'two countries in the world retaliated against us: the People's Republic of China and Canada.'
Retaliatory Tariffs and Global Diversion
Beyond those ill-advised retaliatory tariffs, Carney has spent the majority of his time in office globe-trotting in a Quixotic effort to diversify Canada's economy away from reliance on the U.S. The prime minister apparently preferred a weaker economy to pursuing a mutually beneficial deal with the president he now courts.
Carney has antagonized the U.S., seemingly heedless of the consequences. Most famously, Carney's January speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos bemoaned a 'rupture in the world order,' widely understood as a barely veiled criticism of Trump and his policies.
Strategic Partnership with China
In pursuit of a reduced reliance on the U.S., Carney has notably struck a new 'strategic partnership' with China. Central to that deal is allowing 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) into Canada's market at a favourable tariff rate. This reverses Canada's previous decision to join the U.S. in imposing 100 per cent tariffs on Chinese EVs due to unfair trade practices, overcapacity and national security concerns.
Having abruptly abandoned solidarity with the U.S. against Chinese EVs, Carney's call to maintain an integrated North American auto market and to 'compete with the rest of the world together' must ring hollow in the White House.
Defense Contract Raises Eyebrows
Another move that likely irritated Trump came just one day before the prime minister's New York speech when Canada announced it had selected Saab of Sweden as the preferred supplier for Airborne Early Warning and Control capability. Given the almost certain impossibility of integrating the Swedish system into NORAD, this move is not merely short-sighted; it underlines Ottawa's desire to make political points with Trump-skeptical Canadian voters rather than to defend and protect Canada's (and the U.S.'s) national security. In what universe does 'sticking it to the Americans' over national and continental security seem a sensible prelude to calling for broad collaboration with the United States the very next day?
