Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney hit back at US officials who have blamed their northern counterparts for the trade war, saying tariff talks can proceed when “Americans stop doing memes, stop throwing shade, stop trying to be tough, and start being serious about having those discussions…”
When Americans start being serious, “we can have those discussions,” Carney said in an interview posted on X. Seemingly opining on the general chaos of the stalemate, Carney also said: “It’s not constructive, but that’s their democracy.”
Carney’s comments surfaced hours after Politico published an interview with US trade representative Jamieson Greer who not only downplayed the trade war – but attributed the economically perilous stalemate to Canadians.
“It’s more their emergency than ours,” Greer reportedly said, also stating. “There are no negotiations happening on trade right now.”
US-Canada trade talks collapsed just over one week ago. Donald Trump instituted 50% tariffs on $20bn in goods from Canada – the US’s second-largest trade partner.
Canada, in turn, threatened to levy $20bn in retaliatory tariffs starting on 8 September. The policy could spell financial strain for Americans as key necessities – such as toilet paper – come from Canada.
In the Politico interview, Greer also said: “It’s not clear Canada wants a deal” and claimed they wanted too many things, such as lower taxes on heavy-duty trucks. These asks sank any deal, he claimed.
“Was that political? I don’t know. Was it economic? … I’m not sure how much economic sense it makes because the choice is not between the current tariffs and … you know, duty-free trade. Like, that is that. Those weren’t the options,” Greer also reportedly said.
