EDITORIAL: Mark Carney weighs in on U.S. midterms
· Toronto Sun
Prime Minister Mark Carney has inserted himself into Tuesday’s U.S. midterm elections, saying he’s prepared to outwait the Trump administration and sign a new trade deal with the next American president, if necessary.
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Carney was responding to Donald Trump’s frequent public assertions heading into the midterms that Canada is “willing to give us anything at this moment” and “working very hard to make a deal with us.”
To the contrary, Carney told the left-leaning U.S. political digital newspaper Politico that he’s not interested in a trade deal “just for the sake of it.”
Asked if that meant he would hold out for a new president to make one if necessary, Carney said:
“We’ll have to, if that’s what it takes. And American families, American businesses, will also lose out because of that. They’re not winners in this circumstance.”
That assertion helps the Democrats, who, according to the polls, are poised to win back control of the U.S. House of Representatives and possibly the Senate on Tuesday.
They argue Trump’s tariffs, and the continuing lack of a trade deal with Canada, is one factor driving up the cost of living for Americans.
Lack of trade deal an anchor on Canada’s economic growth
However, it’s also true that Canadian families and businesses are losing out because the lack of a deal with the U.S. is causing job losses and putting an anchor on Canada’s economic growth.
When Carney suspended trade talks with the U.S. in August saying the White House was demanding too many last-minute concessions, Trump threatened to put new tariffs on all Canadian cars, trucks, automotive parts and steel at 50%, effective Jan. 1, 2027.
That would have a devastating effect on our economy, particularly if they were in place for another two years.
It’s all a far cry from Carney’s assurances to Canadians in the House of Commons in October 2025 that not only would he get a new trade deal, but it would be a better one than the existing Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on trade.
Carney’s public statements on the likelihood of getting a new trade deal with Canada should be judged on whether they get us closer to a deal or further away.
In that context, Carney’s latest musings strike us as a step backward.