Carney says trade talks with Trump to resume ‘when it matters’

Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney says trade talks with the US will resume “when it’s appropriate”, dismissing questions about his most recent communication with President Donald Trump .

Asked when he last spoke to Trump, Carney responded: “Who cares? It’s a detail. I’ll speak to him again when it matters.”

The prime minister’s remarks come after trade talks were derailed last month when Trump took offence at an anti-tariff advertisement featuring Ronald Reagan, which was aired by the province of Ontario.

Talking on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Johannesburg on Sunday, Carney suggested that talks with the president could take place “probably in the next two weeks”.

Despite tensions, Trump is yet to impose a threatened additional 10% tariff on Canadian imports over the Ontario ad.

The ad, which featured clips of former President Ronald Reagan’s 1987 radio address in which he argued that tariffs would hurt America’s economy, was interpreted by Trump as an attack on his policies. Trump argues tariffs will boost American manufacturing and create jobs.

Since Trump’s announcement of tariffs against several key allies, Canada has become the only G7 nation without a trade deal with the US despite being a major trading partner.

The US has a imposed a 35% levy on all Canadian goods – though most are exempt under an existing free trade agreement. It has also slapped sector-specific levies on Canadian goods, including a 50% levy on metals and 25% on automobiles.

Ottawa is seeking to lower those sector specific tariffs.

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre criticised Carney’s dismissal of the urgency around US trade talks in a social media post, saying it’s “tough luck” for those in the sectors hardest hit by the levies.