Wednesday October 8, 2025 | OTTAWA, ON [Posted 11:57 am PT]
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
“President Trump and I know that there are areas where our nations can compete – and areas where we will be stronger together. We’re focused on building these new opportunities to create greater certainty, security, and prosperity for our workers and businesses,” said Prime Minister Mark Carney in a summary news release today.
“As Canada’s new government continues to build a new economic and security relationship with the United States, our objectives are clear: protect Canadian workers and their families, reinforce the competitiveness of Canadian businesses, and build the strongest economy in the G7,” the news release from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) stated today.
Short visit:
That statement follows his short visit to Washington, which apparently was organized following an invitation from the US President to Carney in recent days or weeks (these visits take a great deal of planning and organization):
- Carney arrived in Washington on Monday evening, October 6; he was not accompanied by his wife Diana on this trip.
- The Prime Minister met with the US President in the Oval Office for a shared press conference on October 7; followed by a working luncheon hosted by President Trump.
- A working dinner with US Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday evening October 7 together with the Second Lady of the United States, Usha Vance, at their residence; they discussed a number of common priorities and the broader work to build a new economic and security relationship between Canada and the United States.
- The PM arrived back in Ottawa at noon Ottawa time, October 8.
Ministers with Carney:
That was Carney’s second visit to Washington in five months (the first was in May 2025 accompanied by Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, and Public Safety Minister David McGuinty).
For this week’s trip he was accompanied by three top cabinet ministers:
- Dominic LeBlanc – Minister responsible for Canada-U.S. Trade, Intergovernmental Affairs and One Canadian Economy and International Trade;
- Mélanie Joly – Industry Minister; and
- Anita Anand – Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Anand said in the House of Commons during Question Period today that auto sector, steel, aluminum and agrifood will be protected during the trade negotiations.
LeBlanc stayed in Washington, DC today for further working meetings.
Priorities in a new economic and security relationship:
Priorities of this October visit to the White House were stated by the prime minister as trade and defence. As well, Minister LeBlanc put that in the context of national security (given that the US President has used Bill 232, i.e. foreign security threat, as some of his rationale for imposing significant tariffs on exported goods from Canada to the United States).
“The Prime Minister and the President welcomed the progress achieved to date in building a new economic and security relationship between their nations. Canada currently has the best trade agreement of any U.S. trading partner, with 85% of Canada-U.S. trade now tariff-free, and our cooperation is further improving border security,” it was stated in today’s news relese.
“The leaders identified opportunities for material progress in trade in steel, aluminium, and energy, and directed their teams to conclude this work in the coming weeks,” the prime minister’s office has stated.
“We have the best deal with the Americans and it will be even better,” said Carney during Question Period in the House of Commons today. He pointed out how Trump yetserday in the Oval Office discussion made some room for further progress regarding the auto sector.
International priorities:
The Prime Minister and the President discussed pressing international priorities, including the conflict in the Middle East.
“The leaders observed two years since Hamas’ brutal attack on October 7, 2023 – the deadliest attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust. The Prime Minister thanked the President for his leadership in the Middle East, particularly his historic peace plan through which negotiations are underway between Israel and Hamas in Egypt,” it was stated in the prime minister’s news release today.
Arctic security:
The leaders also discussed opportunities to cooperate in defence and focused on their shared efforts to bolster Arctic security.
The Prime Minister emphasized Canada’s increased defence investments, Canada’s upcoming Defence Industrial Strategy, and the potential for further collaboration.
In recent months Carney has committed Canada to a two-percent-of-GDP expenditure on defence in order to align with NATO expectations. The NATO expectation may increase to 5% depending on world security scenarios. Carney’s approach to reaching even the two percent commitment is likely to be achieved by including an increase in pay to military personnel as part of the spend as well as the purchase of equipment and other requirements of the military.
Reviewing CUSMA:
While in the US Capitol this week, Prime Minister Carney met with the Chairman and Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Senator Jim Risch, the Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Senator Jeanne Shaheen, and the Chairman of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, Senator Mike Crapo, to discuss Canada’s economic and trade priorities, including the upcoming review of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).
“They discussed their shared goal of ensuring that the agreement continues to create economic growth and opportunities on both sides of the border,” as stated in today’s news release from the PMO.
The Prime Minister also met with Senator David McCormick to discuss trade and economic priorities, as well as with the President and Chief Executive Officer of Business Roundtable, Joshua Bolten.
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