CANADA: Trump Cancelling Trade Talks Puts Carney In Tough Position

Following US President Donald Trump's announcement on Truth Social that he is terminating all trade talks with Canada, Prime Minister Mark Carney faces a binary choice. Either seek to repair ties with the White House, or follow in Ontario Premier Doug Ford's footsteps and pursue a more aggressive line with the US regarding trade.

• Trump claimed that a TV advertisement run in the US and sponsored by the gov't of Ontario, in which the late US President Ronald Reagan is heard talking of the economic costs of tariffs, intended "to interfere with the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court, and other courts."
• The announcement came just hours after Carney appeared at a press conference alongside Ford. In the presser, Ford, asked what his advice to Carney would be, said, “If you can’t get a deal, let’s start hitting them back.”
• During the presser, Carney said on trade talks with the US and the upcoming review of the CUSMA trade deal, "If we ultimately don't make progress in these various sectors [steel and aluminium], we're going to do what's necessary to protect our workers [...] If it's the case that the Americans have access to our markets in a way that's inappropriate given the level of access we have to their markets, we will change the terms."
• Pursuing Ford's 'hit back' strategy would be politically popular domestically, but risk further escalation from the White House and as such may prove an unlikely option for Carney.