Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced an ambitious plan to double Canada’s exports to countries other than the United States over the next decade, saying that rising U.S. tariffs have chilled investment and exposed Canada’s economic vulnerabilities.
Carney, who is set to unveil his government’s budget on November 4, said Wednesday that Canada’s decades-long economic dependence on the U.S. has become a liability.
“The jobs of workers in our industries most affected by U.S. tariffs — autos, steel, lumber — are under threat. Our businesses are holding back investments, restrained by the pall of uncertainty that is hanging over all of us,” Carney said.
U.S. President Donald Trump has sharply increased tariffs on Canadian goods and even suggested that Canada could become “the 51st state,” drawing criticism from Ottawa.
In a televised address, Carney said the era of deep economic integration with the U.S. has ended. “The U.S. has fundamentally changed its approach to trade, raising its tariffs to levels last seen during the Great Depression,” he said. “We have to take care of ourselves because we can’t rely on one foreign partner.”
Although tensions have eased slightly as Carney works to negotiate a trade deal with Trump, tariffs continue to take a toll on key sectors — particularly aluminum, steel, autos, and lumber — with more than 75% of Canada’s exports still going to the U.S.
“We are re-engaging with the global giants India and China,” Carney said, emphasizing a new era of trade diversification.
Carney described Canada as an “energy superpower,” noting that the country holds the world’s third-largest oil reserves and the fourth-largest natural gas reserves. Canada supplies about 60% of U.S. crude oil imports and 85% of its electricity imports. It is also the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum, and uranium to the U.S. and has 34 critical minerals that the Pentagon considers vital for national security.
“I will always be straight about the challenges we have to face and the choices we must make,” Carney said. “Transforming our economy won’t be easy or fast — it will take sacrifice and time.”
Source: AP