Newly-elected Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told US President Trump during a visit to the US on May 6: Canada is “not for sale.” Trump replied: “Never say never.”
Carney’s visit to Washington is his first meeting with Trump since the April 28 federal elections which saw the triumph of Carney and the Liberal Party. Carney took over as party leader and prime minister after Justin Trudeau stepped down in early 2025.
Neighborly tensions
In recent months, tensions have been growing between the neighboring nations as Trump has made repeated calls for Canada to become the 51st state of the US and used aggressive rhetoric against the top US ally.
Before the meeting between the two leaders, Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social, “why is America subsidizing Canada by $200 Billion Dollars a year, in addition to giving them FREE Military Protection, and many other things?” The US President continued: “We don’t need their Cars, we don’t need their Energy, we don’t need their Lumber, we don’t need ANYTHING they have, other than their friendship, which hopefully we will always maintain. They, on the other hand, need EVERYTHING from us!”
During the meeting, the two leaders reportedly touched on the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and went into effect on July 1 of 2020. The USMCA is scheduled for review next year. Trump questioned if the agreement is “even necessary,” but later said that is a “good deal for everybody.” Carney said that some aspects of the agreement “are going to have to change.”
Tensions between the neighbors have escalated further due to the Trump administration’s unilateral imposition of tariffs, as part of a so-called “protectionist” trade policy. Several of Canada’s major exports to the US were directly targeted in the tariffs, many of which remain despite Trump’s 90-day suspension on many of them.
In Canada’s federal elections on April 28, the tensions with the Trump administration played a central role. Carney and his Liberal Party won the largest share of seats, and their campaign capitalized on the widespread unpopularity of the US trade war against Canada, highlighting opposition to Trump’s tariffs and the proposed annexation. Canada has imposed retaliatory tariffs on the US, which Carney has supported, stating last month that “my government will keep our tariffs on until the Americans show us respect.”
The tensions between the two countries promise major economic reverberations, threatening the close knit ties of trade between the two neighbors. Canada is the largest supplier of US energy imports, including crude oil, natural gas, and electricity, the third largest source of US imported goods overall, and the number one destination for US exports – totaling USD 349 billion. The countries also share the world’s longest land border of 8,800 km.
