Canada respects its commitments and engagements under the United States Mexico Canada trade agreement, of not to pursue free trade agreements with non-market economies, controversial Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Sunday from Ottawa.
Carney was responding to US President Donald Trump's threat that US will impose 100 per cent tariff on Canada if it strikes a trade deal with China. Carney said that it has no intention of doing that with China or any other non-market economy.
"But what Canada has done with China is to rectify some issues that had developed over last couple of years," Carney said. Carney said that Canada was "going back to the future" with respect to EVs, agriculture, fish products with additional protection.
Mark Carney visited China earlier this month in an attempt to diversify its trade and resolve tariff issues with the country's third largest trading partner.
On Sunday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in an interview with ABC News warned that there was a possibility of a 100 per cent tariff if Canada did a free trade deal with China. "If they go further, if we see that Canadians are allowing the Chinese to dump goods," Bessent said.
In a separate statement to Reuters on Saturday evening, the Chinese embassy in Canada said that China is ready to work with Canada to implement the consensus reached by leaders of the two countries and advance the China-Canada strategic partnership.
(Reporting by Divya Rajagopal in Toronto, Editing by Nick Zieminski)
