Thursday June 19, 2025 | OTTAWA, ON [Reporting from VICTORIA, BC]
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
The world wants to work much more closely with Canada “and we’re ready”, was Carney’s key message in a media scrum in Ottawa this morning.
A deal will be continued over the next 30 days, said Carney today.
A series of countermeasures were announced today as well as this week in this house, the One Canadian Economy Act.
Carney was accompanied for today’s announcement by Dominic LeBlanc (Minister Responsible for Canada-U.S. Trade, Intergovernmental Affairs and One Canadian Economy), Mélanie Joly (Minister of Industry; Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions), and François-Philippe Champagne (Finance and National Revenue).
Strength and values:
“Canadian leadership will be defined not just by the strength of our values but also by the value of our strength,” said Carney, repeating a phrase that he first delivered in his remarks at the conclusion of the G7 summit on June 18.
“The world wants to do much more and work much more with Canada, and we’re ready,” said Carney in his opening remarks during a media scrum in Ottawa today.
Canada-USA:
The prime minister reported out some news from a few days ago: “On Monday June 16, Carney met with colleagues to discuss international priorities as part of the G7 but also to further negotiate a new economic and security partnership between Canada and the United States.”
“We said repeatedly, we’ll take all the time we need to get the best deal for Canada but no longer,” said Carney today — also something he’s been saying for a few weeks now.
“And, seeing progress has been made, President Trump and I agreed to pursue negotiations towards a deal within the coming 30 days. We’ll continue these negotiations, of course, in good faith,” said Carney today.
Dealing with tariffs:
“In parallel, we must reinforce our strength at home and safeguard Canadian workers and businesses from the unjust US tariffs that exist at present,” Carney said.
He announced that Canada will be introducing a series of countermeasures to protect steel and aluminum workers and producers. He listed off:
- Canada will adjust its existing counter-tariffs on US steel and aluminum products on July 21 to levels consistent with the progress that’s made at that point on the broader trading arrangements with the United States.
- Canada will implement reciprocal procurement rules ensuring that only Canadian producers and producers from trading partners that provide Canada with tariff-free reciprocal access, through trade agreements, can compete for federal government procurement of steel and aluminum.
- Canada will review its remission framework for automobiles to pay for the use of Canadian steel and aluminum in Canadian-made products.
- Canada will create two government stakeholder tax courses — one for steel, one for aluminum — to monitor trade market trends and to better support government decision-making and workers going forward.
“The $10 billion large enterprise tariff loan facility remains open to help affected businesses access the liquidity they need and to return to financial resiliency as the market stabilizes,” Carney emphasized.
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