Canada’s new Prime Minister, Mark Carney, announced on Friday that he had agreed with U.S. President Donald Trump to hold a meeting next Tuesday in Washington, at a time when the issue of tariffs is casting a shadow over relations between the two neighboring countries.
In a post on the platform "X," Carney stated that he and Trump would focus their upcoming meeting next week on "addressing pressing trade pressures and on the future economic and security relations between our two nations."
The new U.S. tariffs—ranging from 10% to 25% on Canada and up to 25% on Mexico—against its two neighbors came into effect on March 4 after the parties managed to delay them for a month in hopes of finding common ground to avoid them. However, those efforts were unsuccessful.
On March 6, Trump signed two executive orders granting tariff exemptions for certain Mexican and Canadian goods, just two days after Washington had imposed additional tariffs on its northern and southern neighbors. This move raised widespread concerns and created uncertainty about the economy and rising prices.
The upcoming Tuesday meeting takes place amid broader criticism of Trump’s tariffs, particularly those imposed on Mexico and Canada, which are the first and third-largest global trading partners of the United States, respectively.