Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to visit Australia amid new Trump trade threats
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will visit Australia next month as both countries face the renewed threat of Donald Trump’s trade tariffs.
The Liberal Prime Minister will be welcomed by Anthony Albanese to Canberra on March 3 for a three-day state visit.
He is expected to address parliament in the nation’s capital before heading to Sydney.
Mr Albanese described Canada as “one of Australia’s closest friends”; It was built on trust and “a shared commitment to promoting stability in the Indo-Pacific and beyond.”
“As our countries face new challenges and opportunities, we must deepen our cooperation with our partners to support our national interests,” he said.
“I look forward to discussing ways to build on our existing collaboration with Canada to shape the next phase of this important relationship.”
The government has sought to tout Mr Carney’s visit as an opportunity to strengthen cooperation in investment, economic security, defense and critical minerals in the face of renewed trade threats from US President Donald Trump.
Last week, Mr. Trump announced a new 15 percent global tariff after the previous 10 percent regime was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Canada, which Trump has repeatedly called the “51st state,” nevertheless faces a separate set of tariffs, particularly on the auto and truck industries.
A number of counter-tariffs on US auto products are also in effect.
Mr Carney has positioned himself at the head of a new order of “middle powers” after a stirring speech at the Davos economic summits in recent weeks, which included staunch US allies such as France and Britain.
He called on governments to “stop implementing the rules-based international order as if it were still working as advertised.”
“Call it what it is: a system of intensifying great power competition in which the most powerful pursue their own interests by using economic integration as leverage.”
He continued: “We know that the old order will not return.”
Mr Albanese, by contrast, has mostly cordial relations with the US President.
Australian beef has until now been exempt from commercial tariffs.
