Canada’s Mark Carney is eyeing tighter trade and defence ties with Australia as he works to reduce his country’s dependence on the US in the face of hostility from Donald Trump.<\/p>\n
Mr Carney, who recently made headlines with a bombshell speech that declared the international rules-based order was a “fiction”<\/a>, will visit Canberra and Sydney in March, his office has confirmed.<\/p>\n He will be the first Canadian prime minister to address both houses of parliament in almost 20 years, with something of a follow-up to his January speech at the World Economic Forum, where he said “middle powers” must build a new world order.<\/p>\n “In a more divided and uncertain world, Canada’s new government is focused on what we can control,” Mr Carney’s office said in a statement announcing the trip on Monday, local time. It confirmed he would also visit India and Japan.<\/p>\n In Australia, he hopes to discuss deepening cooperation on defence and maritime security, trade and advanced technologies, including AI.<\/p>\n Talks will also focus on critical minerals \u2014 also a key priority for Washington, where the Trump administration is trying to establish a new trading bloc to counter Chinese dominance of the sector<\/a>.<\/p>\n Trump’s trade tantrum may drive Canada and Australia closer<\/a><\/p>\n Canberra’s decision to sign a bilateral agreement with Canada to join forces on everything to do with critical minerals could prove to be a forerunner of things to come.<\/p>\n “Prime Minister Carney will also meet with business leaders and investors to attract new capital into Canada and support two-way trade and investment with Australia,” his office said.<\/p>\n Mr Carney’s speech in Davos, Switzerland, warned the world was in the “midst of a rupture, not a transition”. He said the world had long “participated in the rituals” of “American hegemony”, but “the bargain no longer works”.<\/p>\n “Middle power” countries, of which Canada and Australia are two, “must act together because, if we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu”, he said.<\/p>\n He did not mention Mr Trump by name, but the speech was widely seen as a strong critique of his administration’s retreat from international partnerships in favour of “America First” policies, and its treatment of traditional US allies, including threats to invade Canada and Greenland.<\/p>\n The speech angered Mr Trump, who said the following day: “Canada lives because of the United States. Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements.”<\/p>\n But Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has spoken in support of Mr Carney’s speech. During an interview with the ABC’s Insiders program last month, when Mr Carney’s upcoming trip to Australia was first revealed, Mr Albanese said: “I agree with him.”<\/p>\n “And it’s consistent with what I said at the United Nations and with our engagement, as well, with middle powers,” he said.<\/p>\n Mr Carney’s plan to visit India is also particularly notable after a major diplomatic fallout saw the two countries expel each other’s diplomats in 2023<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n