Carney insists Canada has ‘no intention’ of seeking free trade deal with China

Mike Le Couteur on what to make of PM Mark Carney’s remarks about the trade deal with China.

Prime Minister Mark Carney insists Canada is not seeking a free trade deal with China, just one day after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened a 100 per cent tariff on Canadian goods, if it were to pursue one.

“We have no intention of doing that with China or any other non-market economy,” Carney told reporters ahead of a Liberal caucus meeting in Ottawa on Sunday. “What we’ve done with China is to rectify some issues that developed in the last couple of years.”

When asked whether he has spoken to Trump since his latest threat, Carney would not say.

READ MORE: Trump calls Carney ‘governor’ and threatens 100% tariffs

Carney’s remarks echo a similar statement from Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc on Saturday.

“There is no pursuit of a free trade deal with China. What was achieved was resolution on several important tariff issues,” LeBlanc said in a statement posted on X.

While speaking to reporters, Carney also referred to a special clause under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) that is designed to restrict member countries from entering free-trade agreements with “non-market economies” like China.

Early Saturday morning, Trump threatened to slap a 100 per cent tariff on Canadian goods if Canada “makes a deal with China” – despite calling Canada’s agreement with China “a good thing” just days prior – and taunted Carney, calling him “Governor” for the first time.

Then in a new post on Sunday afternoon, Trump criticized Canada again, saying it is “systematically destroying itself.”

“The China deal is a disaster for them. Will go down as one of the worst deals, of any kind, in history. All their businesses are moving to the USA. I want to see Canada SURVIVE AND THRIVE!,” Trump added.

Trump’s repeated social media tirades follow his criticism of Carney’s speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last week, during which the prime minister warned great powers are using “economic integration as weapons” and that the “old order is not coming back.”

After the speech, Trump called out Carney’s comments, saying “Canada lives because of the United States. Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements.”

Canada and the U.S. have been in the throes of a trade war for nearly a year — when Trump first imposed sweeping tariffs on Canadian imports — with negotiations to update CUSMA already set for this year.

Carney, meanwhile, wrapped up a trip to China last week, when he went to meet with President Xi Jinping. This was the first visit by a Canadian prime minister to the Asian country in eight years.

READ MORE: Carney reaches ‘landmark’ tariff-quota deal with China on EVs, canola

During that trip, Carney announced Beijing will drop canola seed duties to 15 per cent from 84 per cent by March 1, and Canadian canola meal, lobsters, crabs and peas will no longer be subject to Chinese “anti-discrimination” tariffs from March to at least the end of the year.

In return, up to 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles will be allowed into the Canadian market each year at a 6.1 per cent tariff instead of the current 100 per cent tariff.

Following the announcement, Carney described Canada’s relationship with China as “more predictable” than the relationship with the U.S.

Kinew supports Canada’s agreement with China

In an interview with CTV’s Question Period on Sunday, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew defended Canada’s latest trade agreement with China when asked by host Vassy Kapelos about Trump’s threat.

“This is the reality that Canada is in, and I hope Canadians are buckled up and ready for the ride because we have to be able to do negotiations and deal making with China,” Kinew said, later adding that trading with countries like China is a “really delicate balancing act.”

Kinew had previously urged the federal government to drop its tariffs on Chinese EVs to get Beijing to drop its levies on Canadian canola and pork products, while others like Ontario Premier Doug Ford opposed that move.

Asked whether provincial solidarity will be an issue at the First Ministers’ meeting in Ottawa on Jan. 29, Kinew said “unity is very strong across the different regions of the country.”

“There is no debate around the premiers’ table and the First Ministers’ table that every single one of us is a proud Canadian and is going to do what it takes to ensure that our country’s freedom and that the people in this country can put food on the table for generations to come,” Kinew added.

With files from CTV News’ Spencer Van Dyk and Rachel Hanes