Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said the country's ties to the United States have become a “weakness” that must be corrected.
This comes as Canada’s auto, steel and lumber industries remain under threat due to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
"The U.S. has fundamentally changed its approach to trade, raising its tariffs to levels last seen during the Great Depression," Carney said in a video posted to YouTube.
Carney framed the video as a chance to talk to Canadians directly about the threats the country faces and said he would give regular updates on the country’s diversification efforts.
"Security can't be achieved by ignoring the obvious or downplaying the very real threats that we Canadians face," Carney said.
"I will never sugarcoat our challenges. Instead, I'll talk to you directly and regularly about the plan."
Even as tensions between Trump and Carney have eased, the Canadian prime minister has sought closer economic ties with countries like China to reduce Canada’s reliance on the U.S..
“We have to take care of ourselves because we can’t rely on one foreign partner,” Carney said.
“We can’t control the disruption coming from our neighbours. We can’t control our future on the hope it will suddenly stop.”
This comes just says after U.S. Secretary Howard Lutnick criticised Canada’s trade strategy ahead of reviewing the current version of North America’s free trade agreement and blasted Ottawa’s trade partnership with China.
"Carney has a problem with us. He gets on a plane and he goes to China," Lutnick said.
"Does he think the Chinese economy is going to buy his stuff? China is entirely an export-driven economy, right? So what do you do? [Carney] came back and said, 'Oh, we'll take their electric cars.' I mean, is this nuts?"
As part of the agreement, the Canadian government will allow 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles into its market at a tariff rate of 6.1 per cent — down from 100 per cent.
In exchange, China agreed to lower tariffs on Canadian canola to 15 per cent and remove levies on Canadian canola meal, lobsters, crab and peas until at least the end of 2026.
Carney recently secured a majority Liberal government after winning the by-election.
