Trump Downplays Talks, Says US Will Dictate Tariff Terms
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U.S. President Donald Trump said he would prescribe tariff levels and trade concessions for partners looking to avoid higher duties, appearing to move away from the idea that he would engage in back-and-forth negotiations.
“We’re going to put very fair numbers down, and we’re going to say, here’s — what this country, what we want. And congratulations, we have a deal. And they’ll either say ‘great,’ and they’ll start shopping, or they’ll say, ‘not good,’” Trump said May 6 at the White House as he met with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
“It’s going to be a very fair number, it’ll be a low number. We’re not looking to hurt countries,” he added.
The May 6 meeting comes just a week after the Canadian prime minister’s Liberal Party won an election in which Carney vowed to strengthen his country’s economic independence and protect its sovereignty from the U.S. president, who has openly mused about making Canada the 51st state.
With Carney, Trump indicated that he would strike a friendlier relationship than the one he had with former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whom the U.S. president said he “didn’t like.”
The U.S. president, however, cast doubt on whether Carney will be able to strike a deal. When asked whether there was anything the Canadian leader could say to convince him to lift the tariffs on his country, Trump said “no.”
“There’s no reason for us to be subsidizing Canada,” Trump said. “Canada’s a place that will have to be able to take care of itself economically.”
As Trump was speaking, the Canadian dollar briefly rose to its highest level since October at C$1.3751 per U.S. dollar, before paring those gains.
Uncertain Trade Future Sparks Market Concerns
Trump’s comments come as U.S. trading partners rush to negotiate with the administration to avoid higher levies. The U.S. president said May 4 the first deals could come as soon as this week. But the president’s latest comments indicate he could continue to change his approach, which could further roil financial markets that have struggled with uncertainty surrounding his trade policy.
Trump said he was tired of questions about when deals would be struck.
“We don’t have to sign deals. We could sign 25 deals right now if we wanted,” he said. “We will sign some deals. But much bigger than that is we’re going to put down the price that people are going to have to pay to shop in the United States.”
Trump said he had already gotten some nations to agree to concessions, saying India had agreed to roll back tariffs on American goods.
Carney’s election victory capped a stunning turnaround for the Liberal Party. (Mark Schiefelbein/Associated Press)
Carney offered praise for Trump, calling him a “transformational president focused on the economy with a relentless focus on the American worker” and expressing eagerness to work with the U.S. on “defense and security, securing the Arctic and developing the Arctic.”
But Carney also pushed back on Trump’s calls for his country to be absorbed by the U.S., saying “it’s not for sale, it won’t be for sale, ever.”
Trump insisted there are merits to Canada joining the U.S., but said Carney’s stance would not negatively affect their talks.
“I still believe that but, you know, it takes two to tango,” Trump said. “It would really be a wonderful marriage.”
Tariff Impact on Cross-Border Trade
Trump has applied tariffs of 10% and 25% to Canada, while excluding certain goods covered under the North American trade pact he negotiated in his first term. Canada, in turn, has applied some countermeasures, including some tariffs on U.S. consumer products.
Trump also levied 25% tariffs globally to sectors where Canada is a major source of U.S. imports, including automobiles and aluminum. And he’s threatened duties on other sectors such as lumber and most recently film production. The impact on the auto industry, which has supply chains that crisscross the U.S., Canada and Mexico, threatens to be particularly stark.
The president softened the auto tariffs by only applying them to the non-U.S. portions of cars, lowering the effective rate for vehicles manufactured in Canada as part of the heavily integrated continental auto sector. Trump has also pledged to apply tariffs to auto parts that comply with the USMCA trade pact, though hasn’t specified when. Global tariffs on other auto parts went into effect May 3.
Canada and the U.S. exchanged $916 billion in goods and services last year, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The U.S. had a trade deficit of $36 billion with Canada in 2024, partly driven by imports of oil and gas.
Carney called Trump a "transformational president." (Evan Vucci/Associated Press)
Amid the tariff war, Canadian exports to the U.S. tumbled in March, even as shipments to other countries soared. Canadian exports to the U.S. plunged 6.6%, the biggest drop since the COVID-19 pandemic, while imports fell 2.9%, Statistics Canada data showed May 6.
Trump indicated he would pursue just “subtle changes” to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement negotiated during his first term and that their talks would be “very friendly.”
“This is a bigger discussion,” Trump continued. “There are much bigger forces involved and this will take some time.”
Carney’s election victory capped a stunning turnaround for the Liberal Party. That rebound was driven heavily by Trump, whose calls for Canada to be a state sparked widespread anger in the country with boycotts of American goods and cross-border tourism sagging. Polls had shown Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre with a wide lead before Trudeau resigned.
“I think I was probably the greatest thing that happened to him but I can’t take full credit,” Trump joked May 6. “Probably one of the greatest comebacks in the history of politics, maybe even greater than mine.”
The president also teased what he said would be a “great announcement over the next few days,” before he leaves on a trip to the Middle East, but said that it would not “necessarily” be trade related.
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