Prime Minister Mark Carney’s office says Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump are aiming to reach a new trade and security deal within a month.
A readout of the meeting between the two leaders at the G7 Leaders Summit in Kananaskis said they “agreed to pursue negotiations toward a deal within the coming 30 days.”
The PMO said Carney and Trump shared updates on “key issues raised in negotiations” between their governments, including “immediate trade pressures,” and also committed to collaborating on other shared priorities at the summit.
Trump told reporters alongside Carney before the meeting that a deal is “achievable but both parties have to agree,” and defended his use of tariffs — which Canada has said it wants removed.
“I have a tariff concept, Mark has a different concept which is something that some people like,” he said. “We’re going to see if we can get to the bottom of it today.
“I’m a tariff person, I’ve always been a tariff person. It’s simple, it’s easy, it’s precise, and it just goes very quickly and I think Mark has a more complex idea, but also very good.”
The meeting follows weeks of calls and text messages between the pair as they try to resolve the trade war Trump launched with the imposition of multiple rounds of tariffs.
Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc told reporters afterwards that he’s confident progress was made during the meeting, and that officials from the two countries will meet again later this week.
“We’re not there yet,” he said.
Canada’s ambassador to the U.S. Kirsten Hillman added Trump is “very convinced” that tariffs are the best way to achieve his policy goals, but also expressed optimism that common ground could be reached.
“We feel a sense of acceleration in the discussion in the last couple of weeks, and that is a very good thing,” she said.
Asked during the official welcoming of G7 leaders how his meeting with Trump went, Carney replied: “Fantastic.”
Trump’s attendance at the G7 marks his first visit to Canada since he was re-elected as U.S. president. Since his election, he has made repeated comments that he believes Canada should become the “51st state,” remarks that have angered Canadians and led many to boycott American products and travel.
Trump did not repeat any such comments while speaking beside Carney to reporters.
LeBlanc and Hillman wouldn’t say whether Trump mentioned annexing Canada during the meeting.
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand has described the talks between the two world leaders as “sensitive” due to the deep integration between the Canadian and American economies, and Trump’s trade war which has seen successive rounds of tariffs imposed on Canada and other trading partners.
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After announcing the formal signing of a new trade agreement with the United Kingdom later on Monday, Trump said “we have many other ones coming.”
G7 has to change, Carney says as leaders meet
Carney’s bilateral meeting with Trump came before he kicked off group discussions on the economy, security issues and artificial intelligence with other G7 leaders, including Japan, France, Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom and the European Union. The prime minister was due to hold one-on-one meetings with those leaders as well.
At the start of Monday’s opening working session, Carney said the G7 forum must adapt to confront at a new “hinge moment” in history, including rising global threats and economic instability.
“We have to change with the times and to build a better world,” he said before turning to Trump, who was seated next to him at the meeting table.
“Some of you, such as you Mr. President, have anticipated these massive changes and are taking bold measures to address them,” Carney said.
“All of us around this table are reinforcing our militaries and security services for the new world. But we all know there can be no security without economic prosperity, and no prosperity without resilience. And in a world where shocks flow across the borders, that resilience comes from cooperation — cooperation that starts around this table.”
Carney acknowledged that the leaders “may not agree on absolutely every issue” discussed over the next two days, “but where we will cooperate, we will make an enormous difference for our citizens and the world.”
At a meeting later Monday with Carney, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said he’s hoping for an information security agreement and a deal on defence equipment and technology.
Carney has focused his time as prime minister on securing new trading and security partnerships with allies in an effort to diversify beyond reliance on the U.S.
European Union leaders said Monday that Canada is likely to sign a defence procurement agreement with the continent when Carney goes to Brussels later this month.
Carney met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa met on Monday to discuss expanded security and trade partnerships, the Prime Minister’s Office said, as well as critical minerals and the war in Ukraine.
Carney and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Sunday announced new agreements to deepen trade and security ties and advance cooperation on artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies.
Trump comments on Iran, Russia, China
Trump also fielded questions from reporters on the conflict escalating between Israel and Iran and other global issues.
Trump reiterated his previous comments that Iran should have made a nuclear deal with the U.S. early.
“They’d like to talk, but they should have done that before,” Trump said.
“I had 60 days and they had 60 days and on the 61st day I said, ‘we don’t have a deal.’ They have to make a deal and it’s painful for both parties. But I’d say Iran is not winning this war and they should talk and they should talk immediately before it’s too late.”
Asked what it would take for the U.S. to become involved militarily, Trump said “I don’t want to talk about that.”
The president also brought up previous comments he’s made about having Russian President Vladimir Putin at the summit, once again calling it a “mistake” that the country was removed in March 2014 after its annexation of Crimea.
“That was a mistake because I think you wouldn’t have a war (in Ukraine) right now if you had Russia and you wouldn’t have a war right now if Trump were president four years ago,” he said.
“It was a mistake in that you spend so much time talking about Russia and he’s no longer at the table, so it makes life more complicated.”
He falsely accused former prime minister Justin Trudeau of leading efforts to push Russia out, despite Trudeau not taking office until 2015.
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Trump was also asked whether he feels Putin should have a seat at the G7 now.
“I’m not saying he should at this point because too much water has gone over the dam, maybe,” he said.
Trump was also asked whether China should be invited to attend the G7 Summit, being the world’s biggest economy next to the U.S.
“It’s not a bad idea, I don’t mind that if somebody wants to suggest China coming in,” he said.
“But you want to have people that you can talk to, you know, they don’t talk… Putin speaks to me, doesn’t speak to anybody else. He doesn’t want to talk because he was very insulted when he got thrown out of the G8.”
—With files from the Canadian Press
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