‘Even Stronger Together’: Carney Backs Canada-EU Ties After Trump Calls Proposal ‘Laughable’

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday welcomed a proposal for Canada to become an “associate member” of the European Union, saying closer ties with Europe could strengthen prosperity and resilience, hours after US President Donald Trump warned of possible heavy tariffs if he considered the move hostile.

Addressing EU lawmakers in Strasbourg, Carney said Canada would seek closer cooperation with Europe in areas including critical minerals, defence, artificial intelligence, energy and payments. According to Reuters, Trump had earlier described the proposal as “laughable” and threatened to impose further tariffs or restrict trade with Europe if he considered it a hostile act.

“Europe and Canada are ​each strong. Europe and Canada are even stronger together,” Carney told EU lawmakers.

“I am not ​proposing a third bloc in order to become a great-power rival - only with better manners,” he continued. “We do not seek power to dominate others. On the contrary, we are pursuing resilience so that ​no one can control our open markets, impair our sovereignty, threaten our territorial integrity, or undermine our freedoms, our democracies, ​our rule of law.”

The proposal comes as both the EU and Canada face stiff rivalry and pressure from the Trump administration on trade and other matters, as well as from an increasingly assertive China.

Trump threatens tariffs over EU-Canada proposal

Trump warned late on Wednesday that the United States could take action against the EU if it moved ahead with von der Leyen’s proposal to make Canada an associate member.

“If they do that, if I think it's at all a hostile act, I will put very serious ​tariffs or stop trading with Europe on many things,” Trump told reporters while travelling to an event in North Carolina.

“If ⁠it's a good intention, that's fine. If it's a bad intention, we'll put very heavy tariffs on Europe,” he added.

Reuters reported that the European Commission has said the proposal is not a hostile act. The proposal has yet to be fleshed out and would need approval from EU member states before it could move forward.

“As our President (von der Leyen) made clear ​yesterday, the proposed strengthening of ​our partnership with Canada ⁠is not against anyone else, but for our common strength,” said Olof Gill, a European Commission spokesperson.

Carney calls for deeper cooperation

Carney said Canada wanted to deepen its relationship with the EU.

“We are not fair-weather allies,” he said. “We believe that our ​prosperity grows when ⁠it is shared.”

“The objective is not self-sufficiency. It is collective resilience,” he said. Referring to von der Leyen’s proposal, he added: “We welcome this ambition.”

According to Reuters, Carney identified several areas in which Canada would seek closer cooperation with the EU, including critical minerals, defence industrial capacity, AI and computing, energy security, space and payments.

He also mentioned digital trade and efforts to build more secure broadband connections between Europe and Asia, citing the shared geography of Canada and Europe.

Carney's comments came as Canada and the EU face pressure from the Trump administration over trade and other matters. The EU and Canada are also facing pressure from an increasingly assertive China.