Leaders of Canada, Mexico to Meet Amid Strained US Ties
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Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is planning to visit Mexico on Sept. 18, according to a person familiar with the matter, as he seeks to boost trade and strengthen relations with the country amid punishing U.S. tariffs.
Carney is expected to meet with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, and the two are likely to discuss reinforcing supply chains and key infrastructure to grow bilateral trade, said the person, who asked not to be identified to discuss private matters. It’s possible the exact timing of the meeting may change, but the current plan is for mid-September.
A press secretary for Carney declined to comment. Sheinbaum’s spokesperson and Mexico’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Carney’s overtures represent an attempt to patch up differences that arose during the final months of the previous Canadian administration, when provincial leaders mused about sidelining Mexico in trade talks with the U.S. — and Carney’s predecessor refused to rule it out.
President Donald Trump speaks during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House on April 2. (Mark Schiefelbein/Associated Press)
Earlier this month, Carney sent his top diplomat and finance chief to the Mexican capital, where they met with Sheinbaum and her officials, as well as corporate executives. The nations agreed to “build a work plan” covering “resilient supply chains, port-to-port lines of trade, artificial intelligence and the digital economy, energy security,” Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand told reporters.
President Donald Trump hiked tariffs on Aug. 1 to 35% on Canadian goods that don’t comply with the continental trade deal, in part because the nation retaliated against his levies. Mexico, which hasn’t hit back, was granted a 90-day reprieve while negotiations continue.
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The president’s sectoral tariffs on steel, aluminum, autos and copper have battered key Canadian industries, even as the country’s overall economy has been broadly resilient. Carney won an election earlier this year on promises to fight the trade war with the U.S. and diversify markets for Canada’s goods.
The northern nation sent 76% of its exports to the U.S. last year. Mexico is its third-largest trading partner after China, and Canadian business groups have been strongly advocating for ramping up trade with Mexico — pointing out that the two nations are connected by rail, port and air, and are signatories to two free-trade deals.
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But they’ll also have to tread carefully to avoid inflaming tensions with the mercurial U.S. president. The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement is scheduled for a review next year, and the U.S. neighbors should work together without making Trump think they’re “ganging up” on him, Carlo Dade of the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy has argued.
Carney and Sheinbaum met on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in Alberta in June. Carney’s visit to Mexico would be the first for a bilateral meeting — without a U.S. president present — since Justin Trudeau met with former President Enrique Peña Nieto in 2017.
