Canadian new prime minister, Premier Mark Carney, has shut down President Trump's speech that the Canadian president could become the 51st state in the United States, characterizing it as “crazy” and pledging his North American neighbours remains independent.
Carney, a former Canadian bank and governor of England, who was sworn in as Canada's leader on Friday, said he has taken over his predecessor, Justin Trudeau, saying Canada and the United States are “fundamentally different” countries, and Ottawa “expects respect from America and Trump.”
“We will never be part of America, shape, shape or shape, shape, or shape,” Carney said.
“The point is crazy, that's all,” the new prime minister added.
Trump previously said it would be better for Canadians to join the US and repeatedly laugh at Trudeau as “governor” before his tenure ends.
US diplomat Marco Rubio was pressed by Canadian journalists in a group of seven conferences on Trump's story of Canada becoming the 51st state and tariffs that Washington implemented on various products.
“The Canadian government has made their position clear. The president has made his argument clear about why Canada thinks it's better to participate as a nation for economic purposes,” Rubio said Friday.
“There's a disagreement between the two. It wasn't the topic of conversation because it wasn't the purpose of this summit,” the Secretary of State added.
The relationship between Washington and Ottawa was rock-heavy as the trade wars between the two neighbouring countries intensified.
Canada retaliated this week for Trump's taxation imposed on aluminum and steel, implementing a 25% tariff on all aluminum and steel imports. Canada has also imposed tariffs on goods worth $30 billion from the US
Rubio said Friday that the US president would like to “reset the baseline” with Canadian taxation. He said this was a topic that he touched on during his meeting with Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Jolly.
“This doesn't mean hostile moves, it's about balance, fairness and trading,” he said. “Once a baseline is set, we can negotiate with individual countries on trade. This is friendly and is intended to be in our national interest.”
