Bessent Trashes Canada’s PM As Trump Bemoans China ‘Completely Taking Over’ US Neighbor
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent sharply criticized Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney over a new agreement with China on electric vehicles, cautioning that Canada could face steep penalties if it enables Beijing to flood the U.S. market with low-priced goods.
President Donald Trump initially played down the agreement, telling reporters, “If you can get a deal with China, he should do that.” A day later, however, Trump escalated the response, warning that Canada could be hit with 100% tariffs.
“There’s a possibility of a hundred percent tariffs if they do a free trade deal, if they go further — if we see that the Canadians are allowing the Chinese to dump goods.,” Bessent said Sunday on ABC News’ “This Week.”
Bessent noted that Canada had previously aligned with Washington on trade enforcement against Beijing. “The Canadians, a few months ago, joined the U.S. in putting high steel tariffs on China because the Chinese are dumping,” he said. “The Europeans also have done the same thing. And it looks like Prime Minister Carney may have done some kind of about-face.”
Canada imposed 100% tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles in 2024, mirroring U.S. policy. Under the new arrangement, however, China will be permitted to sell up to 49,000 EVs in Canada at a 6.1% most-favored-nation tariff rate, as part of a broader agreement between Ottawa and Beijing aimed at expanding cooperation on green energy.
Carney’s shift toward China has been widely interpreted as a signal of resistance to Trump, who last year slapped broad tariffs on Canada over alleged drug trafficking and border security issues.
“I don’t think he’s doing the best job for the Canadian people,” Bessent said of Carney.
Trump has previously joked about annexing Canada, and his aggressive trade posture reportedly led then–Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to break down in tears in public.
Last week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Carney told global leaders that the international system had fundamentally shifted amid Trump’s threats to assert control over Greenland.
“We know the old order is not coming back,” Carney said. “We shouldn’t mourn it. Nostalgia is not a strategy, but we believe that from the fracture, we can build something bigger, better, stronger, more just.”
“This is the task of the middle powers, the countries that have the most to lose from a world of fortresses and most to gain from genuine cooperation.”
On Sunday, Trump renewed his attacks on Canada, accusing the country of “systematically destroying itself” and striking “one of the worst deals, of any kind, in history.”
“China is successfully and completely taking over the once Great Country of Canada,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “So sad to see it happen. I only hope they leave Ice Hockey alone!”
{Matzav.com}