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Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke to his U.S. counterpart by phone Thursday — the first time the leaders have spoken since the two sides failed to reach a deal on a trade agreement earlier this month.

The two leaders spoke about ‘current trade challenges, opportunities’ over the phone ThursdayJohn Paul Tasker · CBC News · Posted: Aug 21, 2025 2:57 PM EDT | Last Updated: 33 minutes agoTwo men wearing suits are pictured side by side.Composite illustration featuring Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, left, and U.S. President Donald Trump. (Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters, Alex Brandon/AP)

Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke to his U.S. counterpart by phone Thursday — the first time the leaders have spoken since the two sides failed to reach a deal on a trade agreement earlier this month.

According to a short readout from the Prime Minister’s Office, Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump “discussed current trade challenges, opportunities and shared priorities” in what officials described as a “productive and wide-ranging conversation.”

Carney raised establishing a new economic and security relationship between Canada and the U.S., the PMO said. 

The two leaders also discussed how to “build on President Trump’s leadership to support long-term peace and security for Ukraine and Europe” — an apparent reference to the U.S. effort to cobble together support from allies to help protect Ukraine from Russia through security guarantees, if those two countries can reach a peace deal.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

J.P. Tasker is a journalist in CBC’s parliamentary bureau who reports for digital, radio and television. He is also a regular panellist on CBC News Network’s Power & Politics. He covers the Conservative Party, Canada-U.S. relations, Crown-Indigenous affairs, health policy and the Senate. You can send story ideas and tips to J.P. at jp.tasker@cbc.ca

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