Canada’s incoming prime minister says he’ll meet Trump if Canadian sovereignty is respected

TORONTO (AP) - Canada’s incoming Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday he’s ready to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump if he respects Canadian sovereignty and is open to talk about a common approach to trade.

Trump has declared a trade war on his northern neighbor and continues to call for Canada to become the 51st state, a position that has infuriated Canadians. Trump has threatened economic coercion in his annexation threats and suggested Tuesday the border is a fictional line.

“I am ready to sit down with President Trump at the appropriate time under a position where there is respect for Canadian sovereignty and we are working for a common approach, a much more comprehensive approach for trade,” Carney said.

Carney, who will be sworn in in the coming days, spoke to reporters at a steel factory in Hamilton, Ontario after Trump officially increased tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports to 25%. Canada is the largest foreign supplier of steel and aluminum to the U.S.

Carney said workers in both countries will be better off when “the greatest economic and security partnership in the world is renewed, relaunched. That is possible."

He added he respects Trump’s concerns for American workers and about fentanyl.

"Today is a difficult day for Canada and the industry because of these unjustified tariffs that have been put on," Carney said.

Canada responded with its own countermeasures. It plans to impose retaliatory tariffs of 29.8 billion Canadian dollars ($20.7 billion) starting Thursday in response to the U.S. taxes on the metals. Canada's new tariffs would be on steel and aluminum products, as well as U.S. goods including computers, sports equipment and water heaters worth CA$14.2 billion ($9.9 billion).

"We don't want to do this because we believe in open borders and free and fair trade but we are doing this in response,” Carney said.

Canada's new tariffs are in addition to its 25% counter tariffs on CA$30 billion (US$20.8 billion) of imports from the U.S. that were put in place on March 4 in response to other Trump import taxes that he partially delayed by a month.

Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said Wednesday this is now the second round of unjustified tariffs leveled against Canada.

"The excuse for the first round was exaggerated claims about our border. We addressed all the concerns raised by the U.S.,” Joly said.

"The latest excuse is national security despite the fact that Canada's steel and aluminum adds to America's security. All the while there is a threat of further and broader tariffs on April 2 still looming."

Joly said the excuses for those tariffs shift every day.

"The only constant in this unjustifiable trade war seems to be President Trump's talk of annexing our country through economic coercion. Yesterday he called our a border a fictional line and repeated his disrespectful 51st state rhetoric," Joly said.

The U.S. president has given a variety of explanations for his antagonism of Canada. He has said that his separate 25% tariffs on all imports from Canada, some of which have been suspended for a month, are about fentanyl smuggling and objections to Canada putting high taxes on dairy imports that penalize U.S. farmers. He also continued to call for Canada to become part of the United States.

"Mr. Carney is a serious person, a serious man, and he'll engage only if there are serious talks," Joly said.