Arabic version: كندا تتمسك بموقفها مع تعمّق التوترات التجارية مع الولايات المتحدة
According to ABC News, Canada is preparing for further economic pressure after Prime Minister Mark Carney ended comprehensive trade negotiations with the United States a fortnight ago. The two countries conduct more than $1.2 trillion in business each year, yet negotiators on both sides of the border cannot recall relations being so frosty.
Canada already faces US tariffs on key exports including steel, lumber and automobiles, while President Donald Trump has threatened steeper tariffs starting next year. Mr Carney has imposed retaliatory tariffs on the US. Kory Teneycke, a former communications director for former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper, said Canadians appeared willing to accept economic or other sacrifice rather than agree to terms he described as a non-starter.
Tensions have also intensified in public remarks. White House trade adviser Peter Navarro criticised previous Canadian negotiators, while Ontario Premier Doug Ford compared Mr Trump to someone who would take another student’s lunch money. Mr Trump later signed an order changing the US name of Lake Ontario to Lake America. The lake forms a water border between Rochester in the US and Toronto in Canada.
Public support in Canada has strengthened Mr Carney’s position. A recent poll found three-quarters of Canadians approved of his decision to leave the talks, and his Liberal Party swept three federal by-elections with comfortable margins. David Coletto of Abacus Data said many Canadians did not want to feel their sovereignty was at risk or that the US was dictating their choices.
Kelly Ann Shaw, a trade consultant who served in the first Trump administration, said the countries were viewing the collapse of talks differently but predicted they would eventually reach an agreement. She said the two nations were major trading partners, national security allies and traditional neighbours. Mr Coletto said Canadians increasingly believed it was better in the long term to be less reliant on the United States.
