US-Canada relations never the same again: Canadian FM
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Canada’s FM Melanie Joly warned that Trump’s tariffs mark a global trade reset, straining US ties with allies and starting with Canada.
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Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly speaks during the G7 foreign ministers meeting in La Malbaie, Quebec, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (AP)
On Friday, Canada’s Foreign Minister Melanie Joly delivered a sharp warning to European leaders following US President Donald Trump’s imposition of steep tariffs on allied nations.
“We know that the relationship will never be the same again,” Joly said at NATO headquarters, where she was attending a meeting of allied foreign ministers, adding, “That's my message to Europeans, the relationship with the US will never be the same.”
This week, Trump lumped the EU in with America’s “worst” trade partners, slapping a 20% tariff on all imports from the bloc — a move that revives trade barriers not seen since the Great Depression and puts Europe alongside China, Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea on Washington’s blacklist.
Joly said Trump's goal was to do "a global reset on trade," which had started with Canada.
“We buy more from the US than the UK, France, China and Japan combined," Joly told reporters. "When you treat your best client the way we've been treated ... it means that you want fundamentally to change the way you're operating.”
She cautioned that the tariffs would effectively burden American consumers and called on Europeans to relay that message to the US public to help sway the administration.
The trade war between the US and Canada began as Trump imposed steep tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum, framing the move as necessary for national security. Canada, one of the US' closest allies and largest trading partners, responded with retaliatory tariffs on US goods, including agricultural products and consumer goods. The tensions marked a dramatic shift in North American relations.
It is worth noting that Canada's newly appointed Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on March 28 the creation of a new infrastructure-focused fund designed to reduce Canada's reliance on trade with the United States, as cross-border tensions continue to escalate.
"We will create a new fund called the Trade Diversification Corridor Fund to build the infrastructure that will help diversify our trade, create new jobs, and drive economic growth," Carney said during a press briefing.
The initiative aims to strengthen Canada's global trade ties and build economic resilience as the era of close economic integration with the US appears to be drawing to a close. Carney noted that the government would also work to encourage increased collaboration among Canadian ports to adapt to shifting global dynamics.
