Washington (TDI): On Tuesday, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney paid his second visit to the White House in less than six months, meeting with US President Donald Trump as tensions over trade tariffs loom large.
The meeting comes at a sensitive moment for Canada’s economy, with heavy US tariffs slamming key sectors such as steel, auto parts, and aluminum.
With more than 77 percent of Canadian exports destined for the US, Ottawa is under intense pressure to negotiate relief.
In the Oval Office, a visibly cheerful Trump described spoke highly of Carney. “From the beginning, I liked him … we have mutual love,” he told reporters. But he also acknowledged the friction in bilateral ties saying “We have natural conflict.”
Both leaders also said they would consider revisiting or perhaps reworking the US–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA), a central pillar of cross‑border trade in the region.
Analysts note that an immediate breakthrough is unlikely. A Canadian official described the visit more as signal than substance; an indication that Canada remains in the room rather than being sidelined.
Read More: Trump Ends US-Canada Trade Talks, Warns Tariffs
In recent months, Carney’s government has made major concessions aimed at appeasing the US, including cancelling a digital services tax directed at American tech firms, and rolling back countermeasures against US goods.
Carney, during his election campaign in April, promised not to be bullied by Trump, pledging to “negotiate a win” by midsummer; a deadline that has now passed.
Canadian opposition leader, Pierre Poilievre, criticized Carney’s White House trip as unlikely to bring any tangible outcomes or benefits for Canada.
Carney’s last visit to the White House was in May, a time when he openly rejected Trump’s claims of annexing Canada as another state of the United States of America.
Between this time, the annexation threats from Trump and the responses from Carney both have become less frequent, and the most urgent concern Canada faces is to win some tariff relief.
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