EDITORIAL: PM's trade strategy was 'elbows down'

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While Prime Minister Mark Carney encouraged Canadians to get their “elbows up” against Donald Trump during the recent Canadian election, ever since his victory he’s been trying to get to “elbows down” with the American president.

Carney’s one-on-one meeting with Trump on Monday, prior to the start of the two-day G7 meeting in Kananaskis, Alta., that Carney is chairing, was part of his ongoing effort to achieve a truce with Trump on tariffs.

Ditto Carney’s recent announcement Canada will meet its NATO commitment to spend 2% of GDP on defence by March 31, 2026, as well as his introduction of a bill to strengthen Canada-U.S. border security.

Trump emerged from his meeting with Carney on Monday saying that although the two leaders have different concepts about trade, he believes a deal with Canada is achievable.

Later in the day, Carney’s office said Trump had agreed to negotiate a new economic and security deal with Canada within 30 days, details to come, so we’ll see.

While a recent Leger poll found 67% of Canadians surveyed favoured “dollar-for-dollar” retaliatory tariffs against the U.S., that hasn’t been Carney’s position for months.

During the Liberal leadership race, Carney said “dollar-for-dollar retaliatory tariffs by Canada” against the U.S. “should be a given.”

But within days of being sworn in as prime minister on March 14, Carney backed off that position, noting “there is a limit to matching these tariffs dollar-for-dollar given the fact that our economy is a 10th the size of the United States.”

In April, Carney suspended for six months a wide range of Canadian counter-tariffs against the U.S. on the grounds they would hurt Canadian businesses.

In early May, Carney had a cordial meeting with Trump in the White House.

To date, Carney hasn’t responded with counter-tariffs to Trump’s decision in early June to double U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum to 50% from 25%, despite calling Trump’s move, “unlawful, unjustified and illogical.”

All of this in hopes of getting an agreement with Trump on tariffs prior to next year’s renegotiation of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) on trade.

That’s because even as he seeks out new trade deals with other countries, Carney knows Canada-U.S. trade is vital to our economy.

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