Canada has no intent of pursuing free trade deal with China, says PM after Trump threat

Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada has "no intention" of pursuing a free trade agreement with China, as U.S. President Donald Trump threatens to impose crippling tariffs if Canada "makes a deal with China."

"What we've done with China is to rectify some issues that have developed in the last couple of years," Carney told reporters Sunday morning in Ottawa, referring to trade items like Chinese-made electric vehicles (EVs), agriculture and fish products.

Carney said Canada "respects our commitments" to the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement, which requires any of the three countries to notify the others ahead of time if they want to pursue a free trade agreement with a non-market country — like China.

Still, Trump threatened on Saturday to impose a 100 per cent tariff on all Canadian goods entering the U.S. if Canada "makes a deal with China." But the U.S. president did not specify what a "deal" is in his social media post.

"If Governor Carney thinks he is going to make Canada a 'Drop Off Port' for China to send goods and products into the United States, he is sorely mistaken," the U.S. president wrote in his post — referring to the prime minister as governor, a jab he often reserved for Carney's predecessor Justin Trudeau.

"China will eat Canada alive, completely devour it, including the destruction of their businesses, social fabric, and general way of life," Trump said.

Last week, Canada reached an agreement with China to allow 49,000 Chinese EVs into the market at a lowered tariff rate of 6.1 per cent in exchange for China lowering tariffs on Canadian canola and other products.

Trump's latest threat is a departure from his initial comments after Canada struck the agreement with China. He appeared unfazed and said last week the agreement is a "good thing."

"That's what [Carney] should ⁠be doing. It's a good thing ‍for him to sign a trade deal. If you ⁠can get a deal with China, you should do ‍that," Trump told reporters at the ‍White ⁠House at the time.

On Sunday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent provided some clarity on Trump's threat and said the tariffs are possible if Canada makes a free trade deal with China.

"If they go further — if we see that the Canadians are allowing the Chinese to dump goods [into the United States]," Bessent said on ABC's This Week.

Tensions between Trump and Canada have escalated in the aftermath of Carney's speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland — where he said "American hegemony" and "great powers" are using economic integration as "weapons."

Trump criticized Carney's comments in his own speech and said "Canada lives because of the United States. Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements."

One of the top questions after Carney's speech in Davos, which also called on middle powers to team up to protect themselves from global hegemons, is what tangible steps Canada will take to achieve this newly outlined foreign policy vision.