Carney calls for new Canada-U.S. economic relationship amid trade tensions

Mark Carney used a New York stage to argue that Canada and the United States need a new economic relationship, one built for a more fractured North American order rather than the old model of seamless integration. Speaking at the Economic Club of New York, Carney said closer work in aluminum, automobiles and critical minerals could strengthen both countries, even as tariffs and trade tensions continue to strain Ottawa-Washington ties.

The timing gave the message added weight. Carney was in New York City from May 27 to 28 to meet investors, CEOs, entrepreneurs, business leaders and capital managers as part of a broader effort to position Canada as an investment hub. The Prime Minister’s Office said Canada is catalyzing $1 trillion in investment over the next five years in energy, transportation, data and defence, a scale of capital that turns the speech into more than trade diplomacy. It was also a pitch for industrial policy, with Carney tying market access, supply chains and private investment to Canada’s economic security.

That argument fits with Ottawa’s own policy framing. Canada’s Spring Economic Update said the government is responding to a “rapidly changing, and increasingly fragmented world” by building a stronger, more independent, more resilient economy and diversifying trade partners abroad. Ottawa has already moved on that front, signing more than 20 economic and security deals over the last year and vowing to double exports to markets beyond the United States over the next decade. In March, Global Affairs Canada said Canada secured renewed market access with China to boost exports and economic collaboration. In February, Ottawa unveiled a new automotive strategy and said the auto sector has been a cornerstone of the economy for more than 100 years.

Carney’s industrial message also lined up with the government’s defence planning. Canada’s Defence Industrial Strategy says the country will add up to 125,000 new jobs over the next decade and deepen supply chains for steel, aluminum and critical minerals. Those are the same sectors Carney highlighted in New York, suggesting the speech was not just a rhetorical reset but part of a concrete negotiating agenda built around supply-chain security, strategic manufacturing and defence production.

The backdrop in Washington made the warning sharper. U.S. and Mexican officials had already launched the USMCA joint review process ahead of the July 1 deadline, and the United States announced three bilateral negotiating rounds with Mexico without mentioning Canada. Washington also said it intended to keep tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada, even as Carney acknowledged the strain in the relationship and the threat of Donald Trump’s annexation rhetoric. Still, Carney praised the United States as dynamic and inventive and cast Canada as a “predictable, reliable and principled” partner, a sign that Ottawa is trying to preserve the relationship while preparing for a more protectionist era.