BY EMMANUEL OGBONNA
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Tuesday he stood firmly by remarks he delivered at the World Economic Forum in Davos, telling U.S. President Donald Trump directly that Canada intends to reduce its reliance on the United States by pursuing a wave of new trade agreements around the world.
Speaking to reporters as he arrived for a Cabinet meeting in Ottawa, Carney dismissed claims from U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that he had softened or retreated from his Davos comments during a phone call with Trump on Monday. Rolling his eyes at the suggestion, Carney said his position had not changed.
“To be absolutely clear, and I said this to the president, I meant what I said in Davos,” Carney said. “Canada was the first country to understand the change in U.S. trade policy that he initiated, and we’re responding to that.”
At Davos last week, Carney drew international attention when he criticized the use of economic pressure by major powers against smaller nations, a message widely interpreted as a rebuke of Washington’s increasingly aggressive trade posture. Although he did not mention Trump by name, the speech was seen as a pointed challenge and earned Carney praise from other leaders and commentators, overshadowing Trump’s presence at the gathering.
Tensions escalated over the weekend when Trump threatened to impose a 100% tariff on Canadian goods if Ottawa proceeded with a trade agreement with Beijing. Carney has repeatedly said Canada has no intention of negotiating a broad, comprehensive trade deal with China, describing the current arrangement as a limited rollback of recently imposed tariffs in a small number of sectors.
Carney said Trump initiated the call and that he used the conversation to clarify Canada’s position. He told the U.S. president that Ottawa is pursuing 12 new trade agreements spanning four continents over the next six months as part of a broader strategy to diversify its economic partnerships.
“I explained to him our arrangement with China,” Carney said. “I explained to him what we’re doing — 12 new deals, four continents, in six months. He was impressed.”
The exchange came amid a broader war of words between the two leaders. Trump has repeatedly floated the idea of absorbing Canada as the 51st U.S. state and has recently pushed to acquire Greenland, a move that has strained relations within NATO and raised alarms in Ottawa. Canada shares a roughly 3,000-kilometer maritime border with Greenland in the Arctic, making the issue particularly sensitive for Canadian security planners.
Carney said he also discussed Ukraine, Venezuela and Arctic security with Trump during the call. Canada has sought to position itself as a key player in Arctic affairs as geopolitical competition in the region intensifies.
Canada’s push to diversify trade reflects its heavy dependence on the United States, which currently accounts for more than three-quarters of Canadian exports. Carney has said he plans to visit countries including India and Australia as part of the effort to expand Canada’s commercial ties beyond North America.
The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement is up for renewal this year, adding urgency to Ottawa’s strategy. Carney has set an ambitious target of doubling Canada’s non-U.S. exports over the next decade.
In Davos, Carney framed the challenge in stark terms, arguing that middle powers must work together in the face of rising economic pressure from larger nations. “Middle powers must act together because if you are not at the table, you are on the menu,” he said.
Bessent, however, offered a sharply different account of Carney’s call with Trump. Speaking on Fox News, the U.S. Treasury secretary said Carney had been “very aggressively walking back some of the unfortunate remarks he made at Davos.” Bessent emphasized the depth of economic ties between the two countries, arguing that Canada remains fundamentally dependent on U.S. markets.
“Of course, Canada depends on the U.S.,” Bessent said. “There’s much more north-south trade than there could ever be east-west trade.” He also accused Carney of trying to advance what he called a “globalist agenda.”
Canada’s Minister for Canada–U.S. Trade, Dominic LeBlanc, has defended Ottawa’s limited trade arrangement with China, likening it to a deal Trump himself struck with Chinese President Xi Jinping last summer. In that agreement, the United States eased certain tariffs while China moved to allow rare earth exports and resumed purchases of U.S. soybeans.
Trump has continued to needle Canada over its sovereignty, reinforcing his rhetoric with imagery. Last week, he posted an altered map on social media depicting Canada, Greenland, Venezuela and Cuba as part of U.S. territory, further fueling unease in Ottawa as Carney presses ahead with his effort to reposition Canada’s place in a shifting global trade landscape.
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