Arriving at the Prime Minister’s office for the first day of his new term, Mark Carney immediately faced the question in the minds of many Canadians: when would he talk to Donald Trump?
“We’ll see,” Carney told reporters with a smile before limiting the stairs to his office in Ottawa. In fact, the newly elected leader of Canada did not spend time. Carney and the US president spoke on the phone later on Tuesday and agreed to meet “in the near future”.
Starting a new dialogue with Trump is the most pressing task for Carney’s government.
The former Central Banker won the elections in the back of Canadian’s dissatisfaction with US tariffs and Trump’s threats to their sovereignty. He told voters that the decade -long trade and security relationship with the US was “finished”.
Now, he has to return to building a new relationship. An elderly helper said the call with Trump was “heartfelt” and that Carney is focused on the June G7 summit-which he will host in Kananaskis’s Rocky Mountain-like a place for face-to-face talks.
“We have G7 so we can’t let us wait,” the counselor said.
Carney will have to balance the patriotic wrath of voters, as many cancel trips to the US and boycott American goods, with his need to persuade Trump to hit an agreement.
The industry chiefs were quick to encourage Carney to frame negotiations with the US as a summary and extension of the US, Mexico and Canada Agreement – the North American Free Trade Agreement was blocked in the president’s first term.
“Business executives in all three countries agree that the agreement should continue to serve as the Central Mechanism for Trade and Investment Governance, resolving disputes and increasing competition and continental productivity,” Goldy Hyder, Chef of the Canada Business Council, said on Tuesday.
Companies and investors hope that renegotiating the agreement can disrupt the cycle of tariff threats and short extensions. Hyder said USMCA was the best framework “to restore safety, stability and predictability” of the annual trading relationship C $ 1.3TN (940bn).
Relations with the SH.BA remain filled. As the surveys opened in Canada for Monday’s elections, Trump had posted in the social truth that Canadians had to vote to become the 51st US state.
Tammy Bruce, US State Department spokesman, repeated Tuesday the reasoning Trump had used to impose tariffs – issues on which he had blocked Carney’s predecessor, Justin Trudeau.
“We look forward to working with the government of Prime Minister Carney, especially on key issues such as trade justice, combating illegal immigration, banning the flow of Fentanil and other dangerous drugs and opposing the influence of the Chinese Communist Party in our hemisphere,” she said.
Carney’s early morning election speech described a plan to strengthen relationships with “reliable partners” in Europe, Asia and the rest of the world.
“If SH.BA no longer wants to be at the forefront of the global economy, Canada will. We are craftsmen in our home. We will build millions of housing units. We will become a superpower of energy,” he said.
But despite the ambitious conversation there are harsh economic realities. Canada is highly dependent on US buyers for its exports, while America’s Midwest oil refineries depend on Canada as the largest oil supplier in the US. Oil transportation and other resources elsewhere is much more expensive.
Carney will also have his job cut for him with domestic politics. The latest votes on Tuesday afternoon confirmed that he had won the largest number of countries – and the right to form a government – but only three countries less than one parliamentary majority fell.
It must reach an agreement to provide parliamentary support, probably with the new Democratic Party, which had supported Trudeau’s administration. The support of the center -left party crashed, and its leader, Jagmeet Singh, lost his country. But their seven remaining members are enough to postpone legislation through parliament.
The Conservative Party performed better than expected, earning 7.6 percent in the popular vote compared to its 2021 election performance – though its leader, Pierre Pailievre, lost its country.
Carney won the popular vote with only 2.4 percent, having won 11.1 percent of previous Liberal results under Trudeau.
Carney will also need to announce a new cabinet, balanced Trudeau’s lieutenants as Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly and Trade Minister Dominic Leblan with his rival Chrystia Freeland, as well as new faces.
The new leader will face a choir of demand for support from domestic industries such as Carmking, Aluminum and Steel, for whom US tariffs threaten extensive job losses or business closures.
The Canada Petroleum Sector also wants to use Trump’s hostilities as much as possible by finding new buyers for export.
“The development of our world -class oil and natural gas resources in their full potential by increasing our exports to international markets will strengthen our energy security and economic sovereignty,” said Lisa Baiton, the chief executive of the Canadian Oil Manufacturers Association.
These can be difficult conversations about Carney, who has been a high -profile “Green Transition” lawyer.
Despite being described as a political novice, who became MP only on Monday, people who know Carney say he should not be underestimated.
Former Indian Central Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan, who has known the new Canadian leader for two decades, said: “Carney is extremely capable, smart and always well prepared.”
