January 26, 2026 | 09:57 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has stated that the country will not pursue a trade deal with China following the massive threat of retaliatory tariffs from US President Donald Trump.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, January 26, 2026, Carney said, "We have commitments under CUSMA [the Canadian term for the North American free trade agreement USMCA] not to pursue free-trade agreements with non-market economies without prior notification. We have no intention of doing that with China or any other non-market country," he said as quoted by Brussels Signal.
Prior to this, Canada and China had agreed to a "preliminary agreement" on January 16 with the aim of lowering tariffs on certain goods. This includes preferential tariffs for Chinese electric vehicles as well as lower tariffs for Canadian agricultural products such as canola oil.
Trade analysts see the agreement as a significant shift in Canada's policy towards China, after the country imposed high tariffs on Chinese cars in 2024 along with the US.
This new agreement then sparked Trump's anger.
On January 24, he posted on his Truth Social platform, "If Canada makes a deal with China, it will immediately be hit with a 100% Tariff against all Canadian goods and products coming into the USA."
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent echoed Trump's statement. He told ABC News that the US cannot allow Canada to "become an opening through which the Chinese pour their cheap goods into the US."
Trump was also reportedly angered by the speech delivered by Canadian PM at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos. In a special address on January 20, Carney had warned against economic coercion by world superpowers.
In his latest statement, Carney dismissed the new agreement with China, stating that both countries only wanted to "rectify some issues that developed in the last couple of years”, adding the deal was “consistent with our obligations under CUSMA which we very much respect."
He had previously been accused of not being neutral regarding China's interests following reports that he asked the Mayor of Beijing to "deepen cooperation."
In August 2025, Pierre Poilievre, leader of the Canadian Conservative Party, accused, "Carney is compromised by the authoritarian regime in Beijing. His company owes the Chinese state-owned bank a quarter billion dollars."
“He protected a Liberal candidate & MP who said a Canadian citizen should be turned over to Beijing for a bounty … The Carney Liberals can’t be trusted to keep Canadians safe.”
China's Response
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated on Monday that the agreement between Beijing and Canada to address bilateral economic and trade issues is not aimed at any third party.
This is in response to the US' threat to impose a 100% tariff on Canada if the country finalizes a trade deal with Beijing.
"China advocates that nations should approach state-to-state relations with a win-win rather than zero-sum mindset, and through cooperation rather than confrontation," said ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun at a regular press conference as reported by CNA.
Carney traveled to China this month and reached an initial trade deal with Beijing that will cut tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles in exchange for a reduction in import duties for Canadian canola.
He is trying to distance Canada from the turmoil under Trump's administration.
Canada and the US have been embroiled in a trade war since the Trump administration imposed import duties on its northern neighbor.
Read: Trump Threatens to Impose 100 Percent Tariffs on Canada
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