After Threat of Reciprocal Tariffs – Trump Strikes a Conciliatory Tone with Canada

WELT After Threat of Reciprocal Tariffs – Trump Strikes a Conciliatory Tone with Canada 24 minutes 2 minutes reading time Following the US President's tariff announcements, Canada threatened reciprocal tariffs. Now the heads of government of both countries have had a telephone conversation – and suddenly everything looks like it's calming down again. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and US President Donald Trump: One says a "very productive" conversation, the other "very constructive." In the trade dispute with Canada, instigated by US President Donald Trump, both sides attempted a more conciliatory tone for the first time on Friday. Canada's new Prime Minister Mark Carney stated that he had a "very constructive" telephone conversation with Trump, while the US President, for his part, described the conversation as "very productive." Nevertheless, the threats of reciprocal tariffs remained on the table. Carney's office stated that if the Trump administration follows through on its announcements, Canada would respond with retaliatory tariffs. Two weeks after Carney was sworn in as Canada's new prime minister, the two politicians held their first telephone conversation on Friday. Carney's office subsequently announced that "comprehensive negotiations on a new economic and security relationship" would begin after the Canadian general election scheduled for April 28. Trump wrote on his online service Truth Social that he and the Canadian prime minister agreed on many things. They would meet immediately after the election to work on political and economic issues, as well as "any other factors that will be of great benefit to both the United States of America and Canada." The statements ignored the fact that the April 28 election in Canada is by no means decided. Carney succeeded Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on March 14 for the Liberal Party. Trudeau had announced his resignation in early January amid poor poll numbers. While it initially appeared that the Conservatives would win the election clearly, the Liberals gained ground again in the face of Trump's aggressive policies, so that Carney can now calculate his chances of winning the election. Trump has drawn the ire of his northern neighbor by incessantly threatening tariffs, some of which he has already imposed, and repeatedly declared that he wants to make Canada the 51st state of the USA. On Thursday, Prime Minister Carney said that Trump's behavior had permanently changed bilateral relations. "There is no turning back," the USA is "no longer a reliable partner," Carney said. Since taking office in January, Trump has pursued an aggressive tariff policy against long-standing trading partners and rivals on the global market in order to force concessions and stimulate domestic industrial production. However, his zigzagging course is causing uncertainty and price losses on markets worldwide. Next week, US tariffs of 25 percent on car imports are set to come into force, which would also hit the Canadian auto industry hard.