Foreign Pool Report #1 - Backgrounder on Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's Visit to the WH

Good morning,

Happy Canada Day!... 56 days before the real one.

I will be the Foreign pooler for Prime Minister Carney's visit to the White House.

Here's a quick backgrounder on Mark Carney and US-Canada relationship.

CARNEY, NEW PRIME MINISTER OF CANADA

Mark Carney was elected Prime Minister of Canada on Monday, April 28th.

He had been chosen to succeed Justin Trudeau as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada on March 9th. On March 14, he was sworn in as the 24th prime minister of Canada .

Carney and the Liberal Party won last week’s federal election, falling three seats short of a majority.

The victory is widely lauded as impressive for the Liberals considering that in January of 2025, the Conservative Party of Canada was almost 23 points ahead of the Liberals in the polls. At that time, PM Justin Trudeau was still the leader of the Liberal Party.

CARNEY AND TRUMP

It appears that Carney and Donald Trump have not met in person in the past. They have spoken at least twice since Carney succeeded Trudeau:

first on March 28, a conversation during which “The Prime Minister and the President had a very constructive conversation about the relationship between our two countries,” according to a communiqu� from the Prime Minister’s Office.

They also spoke on April 29th, the day after the Canadian election, and it appeared to have been just as cordial, according to President Trump who, during the cabinet meeting the following day, acknowledged:

“I think we're gonna have a great relationship. He called me up yesterday, he said, ‘Let's make a deal.’ You know, he was running for office. They both hated Trump. And it was the one that hated Trump, I think, the least, that won. I actually think the Conservative hated me much more than the Liberal. And the so-called liberal. He's a pretty liberal guy. But, no, I spoke to him yesterday. He couldn't have been nicer.”

TARIFFS – U.S. vs CANADA

The USMCA, or Unites States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, is a trade agreement that replaces the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). It came into force on July 1, 2020. It's known as CUSMA in Canada.

Canada was exempted from Trump's most sweeping "reciprocal" tariffs. Still, Canada faces 25% duties on steel and aluminum exports and 25% duties on cars exported to the U.S. and on certain auto parts since May 3rd.

So, the rate of duty for non-USMCA-originating goods remains at 25%.

The rate of duty for non-USMCA-originating energy or energy resources and potash imported from Canada remains at 10%

The rate of duty for USMCA-originating goods remains at 0%, except for the sectoral tariffs, such as autos, steel and aluminium.

The tariff rate on Canadian softwood lumber remains at 14.54%.

The additional 25% tariff proposed in March was delayed and ultimately exempted for lumber on April 2, avoiding a jump to 39.5%.

TARIFFS – CANADA vs U.S.

Canada has imposed a 25% tariff on $30 billion worth of U.S. goods (orange juice, peanut butter, wine, spirits, beer, coffee, appliances, etc.).

In response to the U.S. tariffs on aluminum and steel, Canada has introduced 25% reciprocal tariffs on a list of steel products worth $12.6 billion and aluminum products worth $3 billion , as well as additional imported U.S. goods worth $14.2 billion, for a total of $29.8 billion

Canada has imposed a 25% tariff on all U.S. vehicles that don’t meet USMCA requirements, in response to similar tariffs introduced by the U.S.

AS FOR CANADA BECOMING THE 51ST STATE

Carney has firmly rejected Trump's repeated suggestions that Canada should become the 51st U.S. state.

“America wants our land, our resources, our water, our country. But these are not idle threats. President Trump is trying to break us so that America can own us. That will never, that will never ever happen.”

• Mark Carney’s Victory Speech, April 29th 2025

At the beginning of March, a poll by Canadian firm Leger indicated that 9% of Canadians agreed with Canada becoming the 51st State, while 85% did not.

At the end of March, the same polling firm found that more Americans were in favor of the idea of their state becoming a Canadian province - 20% - than Canadians wanting to join the U.S.

CARNEY HIMSELF

Mark Carney is 60 years old. He is married and his brother-in-law is the 3rd Baron Rotherwick , to whom his wife's sister is married. Carney and his wife have four children.

Richard Latendresse

Correspondant � la Maison-Blanche / Animateur de "Contextes"

White House Correspondent / Host of "Contextes"

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