Carney says Canada has no plans to pursue China free trade deal after Trump tariff threat

Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada has no plans to go ahead with a free trade deal with China in the wake of a tariff threat from President Trump.

“We have no intention of doing that with China or any other nonmarket economy,” Carney said Sunday, according to The Associated Press. “What we have done with China is to rectify some issues that developed in the last couple of years.”

On Saturday, Trump warned of 100 percent tariffs on the U.S.’s northern neighbor if it made a trade deal with China.

“If Governor Carney thinks he is going to make Canada a ‘Drop Off Port’ for China to send goods and products into the United States, he is sorely mistaken,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.

“China will eat Canada alive, completely devour it, including the destruction of their businesses, social fabric, and general way of life,” the president added.

Earlier this month, Canada and China came to an initial trade deal in which tariffs on electric vehicles and canola were cut. Canada was going to let a maximum of 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles at a 6.1 percent tariff into their country, according the AP, and Beijing was set to bring down its tariff on its canola seed in March.

Throughout his second term, Trump’s tariff threats have ruffled feathers with U.S. allies like Canada and the European Union. The Trump administration’s relationship with its northern neighbor has also taken a blow recently over the president’s threat to acquire Greenland, which is a Danish territory.

Last week, Trump told Carney that Canada “lives because of the United States” after the Canadian leader defended Greenland amidst the president’s rhetoric about acquiring the Arctic island.