By ROB GILLIES<\/p>\n
TORONTO (AP) \u2014 Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Monday some of U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s threats should be viewed as prepositioning ahead of negotiations to renew the free trade pact between the two large trading partners.<\/p>\n
Carney noted they are entering a review of the United States\u2013Mexico\u2013Canada Agreement this year and said he expects a \u201crobust review.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe president is a strong negotiator, and some of these comments and positioning should be viewed in the broader context of that,\u201d Carney said.<\/p>\n
Trump threatened this past weekend to impose a 100% tariff<\/a> on goods imported from Canada if America\u2019s northern neighbor went ahead with a trade deal<\/a> with Beijing, something Carney said Canada has no interest in.<\/p>\n Carney has said his recent agreement with China merely cuts tariffs on a few sectors that were recently hit with tariffs.<\/p>\n In 2024, Canada mirrored the United States<\/a> by putting a 100% tariff on electric vehicles from Beijing and a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum. China had responded by imposing 100% import taxes on Canadian canola oil and meal and 25% on pork and seafood.<\/p>\n Breaking with the United States this month during a visit to Beijing, Carney cut its 100% tariff on Chinese electric cars in return for lower tariffs on those Canadian products.<\/p>\n \u201cLast week\u2019s new strategic partnership with China will make available tens of thousands affordable electric vehicles in Canada,\u201d Carney said Monday.<\/p>\n Carney has said there would be an initial annual cap of 49,000 vehicles on Chinese EV exports coming into Canada at a tariff rate of 6.1%, growing to about 70,000 over five years.<\/p>\n He also has said the initial cap on Chinese EV imports was about 3% of the 1.8 million vehicles sold in Canada annually and that, in exchange, China is expected to begin investing in the Canadian auto industry within three years.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s tariff threat came amid an escalating war of words with Carney as the Republican president\u2019s push to acquire Greenland<\/a> strained the NATO alliance<\/a>.<\/p>\n Carney has emerged as a spokesman for a movement for countries to find ways to link up and counter the U.S. under Trump. Speaking in Davos before Trump, Carney said, \u201cMiddle powers must act together because if you are not at the table, you are on the menu.\u201d The prime minister received widespread praise and attention for his remarks, upstaging Trump at the World Economic Forum.<\/p>\n