THE Canadian Prime Minister has said “Europe and Canada are stronger together” after US president Donald Trump said allowing the country to be an EU associate would be a “hostile act”.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed making Canada the EU’s first associate member on Wednesday, a striking overture as Trump’s threats drive Ottawa closer to Europe.
Trump threatened to respond to the proposed move by imposing more tariffs on the bloc.
He conditioned his latest threat on the “intention” of European leaders, saying that “if it’s a good intention, that’s fine. If it’s a bad intention, we’ll put very heavy tariffs on Europe”.
He also suggested the US could cut off trade with Europe in certain areas, adding that the prospect of Canada joining the EU was “laughable” and called America’s neighbour a “terrible trade partner”.
However, speaking to the European Parliament on Thursday, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney hit out at Trump’s threats as he said Canada and the EU can work together in the face of financial coercion.
“Canada and Europe are each strong. Europe and Canada are stronger together,” he said.
Carney said he welcomed von der Leyen’s “ambition” to have Canada become the EU’s first associate member.
He said: “An alliance for the future is a unique, positive approach that we will define together.”
Carney went on to outline what Canada proposes the partnership to look like, saying the two should “secure our strategic autonomy through deep co-operation, in the full range of strategic capabilities - including critical minerals”
He went on to address that Trump’s use of tariffs as threats is “weaponising” supply chain weaknesses as he said: “Economic integration is now being weaponised, tariffs being used to exert pressure.
“Financial mechanisms have been used for coercion. Supply chains constitute weak points to be exploited.”
He added that the EU and Canada can work together to shield each other from economic threats, as he said: “This is about sovereignty - our ability to live as we wish.
“It's about the freedoms we must fight for everyday.”
Carney added that sovereignty requires resilience and that it goes beyond the ability to feed, fuel and defend oneself.
He said: “We all have important gaps in these strategic capabilities.”
Carney has previously repeatedly urged middle powers to resist economic coercion.
At the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, he warned that when countries negotiate alone with a dominant power, “we negotiate from weakness. We accept what is offered”.
Trump rebuked him the next day, and Thursday’s speech could further strain the relationship.
Carney’s speech comes after von der Leyen proposed making Canada the EU’s first associate member – a status that does not currently exist in the bloc’s treaties and would have to be created.
She said Europe wants to take its relationship with Canada to “the highest level possible”.
Von der Leyen said Canada and the EU should move beyond their existing free trade agreement and create an “Alliance for the Future” encompassing a “common prosperity and economic security space”.
Carney will host EU leaders for a Canada-EU summit in Montreal on October 29-30, where the two sides are expected to discuss the proposed new relationship in more detail.
Canada sends roughly 70% of its exports to the United States, making it highly exposed to Trump’s tariffs.
Ottawa has retaliated and rejected demands that Carney says threaten Canadian sovereignty.
Europe took a different path, shelving retaliation and accepting tariffs of up to 15% on most EU exports to the US.
Jonathan Wilkinson, Canada’s ambassador-designate to the EU, said on Wednesday that Canada was not seeking full EU membership because that would require surrendering some sovereignty.
Instead, Ottawa wants “to get as close as we possibly can” to Europe while increasing Canada’s independence.
Exactly what associate membership would mean remains to be negotiated.
Canada has already taken a major step toward European integration.
This year it became the first non-European country to join the EU’s 150-billion-euro (£128 billion) Safe defence procurement program, giving Canadian companies access to joint procurement as Europe increases defence spending.
The two sides have also discussed closer co-operation on energy, critical minerals, artificial intelligence and digital trade.
