Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday (native time) hit again on the US, saying it ought to “cease doing memes, cease throwing shade and cease making an attempt to be powerful,” as he pushed again towards a recent wave of on-line barbs from the Trump administration, days after commerce talks between the 2 sides collapsed.Carney additionally stated commerce talks might resume if Washington turned “severe” about negotiations.“When the People cease doing memes, cease throwing shade and cease making an attempt to be powerful, and begin being severe about having these discussions, we will have these discussions. It’s not constructive, however that’s their democracy,” he advised reporters.The Canadian premier described the US strategy within the talks as one that may have left Canadian industries successfully as “subsidiaries” of American corporations or imposed phrases underneath which they might be “step by step wound down in Canada and worn out.”“We’re not going to — after all, we’re not going to just accept these phrases,” he stated.Carney additional acknowledged that the US sought an “uncompetitive” deal for key industries, together with autos, whereas additionally pushing adjustments affecting French-language and cultural protections. He argued that any a kind of points would have been sufficient to dam an settlement.Washington additionally sought limits on Canada’s future commerce offers, Carney famous. “Canada is a sovereign state. We are going to strike free commerce offers with the international locations we want to strike free commerce offers,” he asserted.Nonetheless, Carney acknowledged that there had been “mutually helpful” components to a possible deal earlier than the talks broke down.His feedback got here amid a recent barrage of criticism from Washington following the collapse of commerce talks on August 21. Trump has since moved to rename Lake Ontario “Lake America” and taunted Canada on social media, whereas US treasury secretary Scott Bessent warned that Canada couldn’t go “tit for tat” with an financial system “13 occasions bigger.”US secretary of battle Pete Hegseth additionally mocked the Canadian navy on-line, posting a picture Monday of two feminine cadets at a coaching middle in British Columbia alongside the phrases “that is actual” and a Canadian flag. Carney described the publish as “beneath their workplace.” The Pentagon, nonetheless, stood by the publish Tuesday, saying, “The X publish speaks for itself.”The commerce talks broke down after the 2 sides failed to achieve an settlement, prompting Trump to impose 50% tariffs on roughly $20 billion value of Canadian items. Ottawa’s retaliatory tariffs on almost $20 billion in US items are scheduled to take impact September 8, with duties starting from 15% to 50%.Trump has repeatedly talked about making Canada the “51st US state” since returning to the White Home in January 2025.(With AP inputs)
