Trump official threatens Carney with CUSMA consequences

Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters in Ottawa Wednesday morning that “relations are good” with the Americans, despite the recent threats from U.S. President Donald Trump.

However, the U.S. treasury secretary once again threatened Canada on American television.

“I would not pick a fight going into USMCA [United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement] to score some cheap political points,” said U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

Bessent issued a warning to Carney, threatening consequences over the prime minister’s speech at the World Economic Forum, where he pushed back against American global dominance and economic coercion.

“I would just encourage Prime Minister Carney to do what he thinks is best for the Canadian people, not his own virtue signaling because we do have a USMCA negotiation coming up,” said Bessent.

The White House has been threatening changes to Canada-United States Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), which is up for review beginning in July.

“I think we are seeing some degree of posturing from senior officials in the U.S. administration,” said Charles Bird, political strategist with Earnscliffe Strategies.

Bird says the threat must be taken seriously, but at the same time says the Trump administration is unique and going through a period of crisis with the events playing out in Minnesota and a potential shift in power in Washington.

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“The very real prospect of the November mid-terms and what that could mean in terms of a reordering of the political landscape is looming very large in President Trump’s mind,” said Bird.

Despite the recent dust-ups between Carney, Trump and Bessent, the prime minister told reporters Wednesday morning, “relations are good, we’re having good conversations, good back and forth. There’s a lot of work to be done for the review of CUSMA, that work has started [in the U.S. and Mexico and]…it’s finished in Canada, we’ll be ready to sit down.”

“I think he’s playing his cards very carefully and quite correctly,” said Bird.

Bessent’s comments come as the Bank of Canada stresses how significant that CUSMA review will be to the Canadian economy.

“U.S. trade policy remains highly unpredictable,” said Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem.

Macklem says the Trump administration’s shifting policies are casting a shadow over the bank’s economic outlook.

The yet unknown results of the review is heightening the uncertainty.

“What the outcome is of the review of CUSMA is an important risk to our projection,” said Macklem.

Bessent’s warning comes just days after he claimed the prime minister rolled back the substance of his World Economic Forum speech in a phone call with Trump.

Carney says that isn’t true, and he stands by what he said.

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