Carney: Canada relied ‘too much’ on ‘easy’ economic ties with US

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Tuesday his country has overrelied on “easy” economic ties to the U.S., a take he shared as his retaliatory tariffs on American goods went into effect.

“The past 40 years has been a period of deeper economic integration with the United States. Truth is, it was easy business, but it meant we relied too much on one economic partner. It’s clear that time is over,” Carney said in a video posted to YouTube Tuesday morning.

The prime minister continued, “This is why our plan, since I came into office, has been development and diversification, not denial, waiting to go back to some good old days, and not continued dependence.”

Trade tensions between the U.S. and Canada have flared over the past few weeks after negotiations between the two countries broke down. A trade war ensued, with Washington and Ottawa slapping tariffs on each other’s goods.

Canada’s retaliatory tariffs on $27.6 billion of American products went into effect Tuesday. Fifteen percent, 25 percent and 50 percent tariffs were imposed on close to 6 percent of what the U.S. exported to Canada last year.

Carney previously described these new tariffs as “dollar for dollar” matches of taxes the U.S. imposed on Canada.

Ottawa’s fresh levies apply to more than 700 U.S. products, including metals, clothing, appliances, cosmetics and farming equipment.

Beyond financial retaliation, President Trump has taken other swipes at the U.S.’s northern neighbor, such as signing an executive order renaming Lake Ontario — which shares a name with a Canadian province — to “Lake America.”

The president on Monday also seemed to reiterate his administration’s threats to make Canada a U.S. state , posting a map on social media with the American flag pattern stretching over most of North America.