Bessent on trade war with Canada: Carney ‘chose to walk away’ from a deal

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday took aim at Prime Minister Mark Carney, claiming the Canadian leader “chose to walk away” from a trade deal.

“And then he started this. And it’s unfortunate that he’s not doing what’s best for the Canadian people. He’s doing best, what is best for the Liberal Party, what’s best for Mark Carney. And in the long run, the other Canadian people are going to see through that,” the Treasury secretary said Monday on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street.”

Bessent added that the Canadians “were offered the best trade deal of any country on the globe,” but Carney abandoned the deal “at the last minute.”

Tensions between the U.S. and Canada have heightened throughout the latter half of August, with both Washington and Ottawa slapping notable tariffs on the other nation’s goods.

President Trump said Sunday he did not want American businesses to import Canadian goods. The president wrote in a post on Truth Social that his tariffs “revived, and indeed saved” the American automobile industry, noting profits from Ford, General Motors and other American auto companies amid his second term.

Trump also referred to Canada as “one of the worst abusers” in trade, following his 50 percent import taxes on $27.6 billion in Canadian goods going into effect earlier this month.

“They’ve been ripping us off for decades, and it’s going to stop. This should have happened long ago with other Presidents, just as stopping Iran should have happened long ago,” Trump continued, referring to his tariffs on Canadian goods.

The American tariffs on Canadian goods apply to products including wine, hockey sticks, cement, natural honey and wallpaper.

“I think this is very unfortunate that Prime Minister Carney has turned this into the — a political shouting match. I mean, we’re not at war with Canada. How are we going to be at war with Canada? They’re going to take their two submarines from the Edmonton mall and sic them on us?” Bessent said on CNBC.