Backgrounder to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's Visit to the WH

Bonjour dear colleagues,

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

Here's a backgrounder on him and the visit. Don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.

Richard

MARK CARNEY’S SECOND VISIT TO THE WH

The Canadian Prime Minister’s first visit to the White House happened on May 6th, earlier this year.

Mark Carney had just been elected Prime Minister of Canada the previous week, on Monday, April 28th.

Carney and the Liberal Party won the last federal election but fell three seats short of a majority.

This visit is presented as a working one with a “focus on shared priorities in a new economic and security relationship between Canada and the U.S.”

CARNEY AND TRUMP

For two men who hadn’t met in person before, the May 6th meeting at the White House was very cordial.

(I say it was their first encounter, but according to our colleagues at Politico who quoted the Prime Minister’s office last May, the pair met at the 2017 G20 Hamburg summit when Trump was President and Carney was chair of the Financial Stability Board, an international standard-setting body.)

They met again and had several discussions last June during the G7 Kananaskis summit.

And last month, the Prime Minister told Canadian Parliament that President Trump is a “modern man” and that the two “speak regularly” and “send each other text messages.”

TARIFFS – U.S. vs CANADA

After the difficult relationship between the President and former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, a lot of hope was placed in the new relationship that Mark Carney could build. Results are still pending.

No tariffs have been taken away and new ones have been pressed.

Currently, the Trump administration has imposed 35% tariffs on Canadian exports, for most products not covered by the USMCA (that we call CUSMA on the northern side of the border), the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, concluded and signed during Donald Trump's first term.

Around 55% of Canadian exports to the United States are officially compliant with CUSMA. But potentially up to 90% of exports could be compliant if all companies decided to observe the agreement's standards and rules.

Canadian steel and aluminum are tariffed at 50% since June.

With a 10% additional surcharge starting October 14, Canadian lumber will be burdened with a 45% customs duty. Only in Quebec, for instance, forestry, logging, and related services sector directly supports over 60,000 jobs.

There are some sectoral exceptions: energy products—oil and gas—are not subject to the 35% tariff, but remain at 10%, while oil exports don't have to pay any duties at all.

And we all learned yesterday afternoon on Truth Social that “Beginning November 1st, 2025, all Medium and Heavy Duty Trucks coming into the United States from other Countries will be Tariffed at the Rate of 25%.”

TARIFFS – CANADA vs U.S.

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

But those counter tariffs and others have been removed, effective September 1, 2025.

Only Canada's counter tariffs – 25% – on steel, aluminum and automobiles remain in effect as negotiations with the U.S. continue.

AS FOR CANADA BECOMING THE 51ST STATE…

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

Since their May 6th meeting at the White House, the President had refrained from repeating his ideas… until last week, at Quantico, Virginia, in front of generals and admirals.

Talking about the “Golden Dome” – another sure topic of discussions today – POTUS specified that “Canada called me a couple of weeks ago, they want to be part of it, to which I said, well, why don't you just join our country, you'd become 51, become the 51st state and you'd get it for free.”

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 à la Maison-Blanche / Animateur de "Contextes"

White House Correspondent / Host of "Contextes"

Washington DC U.S.A.

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