Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has criticized the Trump administration for “doing memes” after two U.S. cabinet secretaries appeared to take aim at Canada’s military.
Speaking Tuesday, Carney said the officials were “trying to be tough” and called on Washington to “start being serious” in negotiations intended to end the ongoing trade war.
The latest flare-up comes after Donald Trump last week renamed Lake Ontario “Lake America,” a move that further inflamed tensions between the neighboring countries amid their deepening trade dispute.
On Monday night, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted an image from a cadet training center in British Columbia showing a teenage girl receiving a medal from a female instructor, adding the caption: “This is real.”
Transport Secretary Sean Duffy also dismissed Canada during an August 23 appearance on Fox News Sunday, describing it as “a country that doesn’t have a military.”
Asked by reporters about the remarks from Trump’s cabinet members, Carney said the comments were “beneath their office.”
“There’s a positive opportunity that has always existed with the United States for a mutually beneficial trade deal that respects Canadian sovereignty,” the prime minister said.
“When the Americans stop doing memes, stop throwing shade, stop trying to be tough and start being serious about having those discussions, we can have those discussions.”
Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks with the news media after he suspended trade negotiations with the United States, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada August 22
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday night posted an image from a cadet training center in British Columbia showing a teen girl receiving a medal from an instructor with the caption: ‘This is real’
Trade talks broke down on August 21 with Trump imposing a 50 percent tariff on $20 billion in Canadian imports the following day. Canada announced dollar for dollar tariffs set to take effect on September 8.
Carney said Tuesday that the US wanted to turn some Canadian industrial sectors into ‘subsidiaries’ of its economy or wipe out others, such as its auto industry.
The Canadian PM called the targeting of its car industry ‘misguided’ and said America relied on both its northern neighbor and Mexico.
‘The United States auto industry is made stronger by the Canadian and the Mexican auto industries. And at a time of big, big change in autos, it’s important that we work together,’ he said.
The Trump administration said no discussions are taking place and that the impasse was hurting Canada’s economy.
‘It’s more their emergency than ours,’ United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told Politico, adding ‘there are no negotiations happening on trade right now.’
The row centers on how far Canada is willing to reshape its economy to secure access to the US market, which buys the overwhelming majority of its exports.
Trump has cast the dispute as part of his wider effort to bring manufacturing back across the border and reduce Washington’s reliance on foreign supply chains.
Trump speaks with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney at a working lunch with leaders of G7 and the Middle East, in Evian-les-Bains, France, June 16
US officials say their proposed deal would have lowered existing tariffs on Canadian cars, steel and aluminum but required Ottawa to accept terms they said would deepen American influence over industries spanning the two countries.
Greer has accused Canada of raising new demands shortly before negotiators were due to sign off on an agreement.
But Carney argues that the US offer would leave Canada dependent on its larger neighbor and turn major domestic sectors into extensions of the American economy.
He has singled out the car industry, where parts and finished vehicles routinely cross the border several times during production, arguing that both countries would lose from a rupture.
Canada is seeking an agreement that preserves its control over its industrial policy and protects jobs in autos, metals and other export-heavy sectors.
Washington is pushing for concessions it says would make North American manufacturing more US-focused.
With neither side at the table, the dispute has widened from a tariff fight into a test of how much economic independence Carney is prepared to maintain.
