KUALA LUMPUR – Prime Minister Mark Carney took a veiled shot at the Trump administration’s trade policy on Sunday, highlighting Canada’s reliability and steadiness without naming the United States or calling out the president directly.
“We value a rules-based system. We respect trade agreements and the rule of law. We value the free exchange of goods, capital and ideas,” Carney said at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations leaders summit in Malaysia.
Those comments seemed intended to draw a sharp contrast with U.S. President Donald Trump, who threatened late Saturday night to hike tariffs on Canada over an anti-tariff TV ad the Ontario government has been running in U.S. markets.
Trump’s pronouncement came as he was en route to Malaysia himself.
“Their Advertisement was to be taken down, IMMEDIATELY, but they let it run last night during the World Series, knowing that it was a FRAUD,” Trump said on X.
The $75-million ad, which features clips of former president Ronald Reagan talking about tariffs, angered Trump on Thursday, when he cut off trade talks with Canada.
Heading into the overseas visit, Carney had downplayed the idea that he and Trump were set to sign an agreement on sectoral tariffs but said he was looking forward to meeting the president.
Now, it’s unclear if a meeting will happen this week at all. The leaders are both set to attend the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in South Korea later in the week.
Carney told ASEAN leaders on Sunday that the emergence of “transactional bilateral trade” and a new era of great power rivalry are challenging the global institutions that middle powers like Canada and Southeast Asian countries have relied upon.
He said those changes underscore the need for reliable partners — and said Canada is one such partner.
Carney’s five-minute speech at the summit came at around the same time as Trump was arriving at the site at a convention centre in the capital Kuala Lumpur to take part in the signing of a peace deal between Thailand and Cambodia.
Canadian officials said Carney and Trump had not spoken since Thursday.
Carney’s speech to ASEAN leaders highlighted his government’s plans to double non-U.S. exports in the next decade and to quadruple defence spending in the next four years, with much of that going toward cybersecurity and AI.
Carney also noted Canada’s recent trade agreement with Indonesia, the first with an ASEAN member, and pledged his government will move quickly on bilateral deals with other interested countries.
He said Canada is committed to putting “all the resources in” to finalizing a trade deal with ASEAN as a whole by next year.
The ASEAN leaders welcomed Timor-Leste as the bloc’s 11th member on Sunday as the summit officially opened.
Carney met with the prime ministers of Laos and Vietnam, as well as the president of the Philippines, on the sidelines of the event before a fireside chat at the ASEAN business and investment summit.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 26, 2025.
