THUNDER BAY – Prime Minister Mark Carney is pushing back against senior members of the Trump administration who have been claiming his government tanked trade talks in the eleventh hour for political reasons.
At an unrelated news conference in Thunder Bay today, Carney said he doesn’t think “appointed, unelected” cabinet members in the United States are experts on Canadian politics.
Carney said a deal with the United States that works to the benefit of both countries is still possible.
Tensions between the United States and Canada have escalated since the breakdown in trade talks last month.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was on multiple U.S. news stations this week claiming Canada added “crazy ideas” in the final hours of negotiations in order to terminate trade talks for domestic political reasons.
Lutnick told Bloomberg he asked his Canadian counterpart if they were trying to blow up the deal on purpose and claimed they responded, “I’m not allowed to say that.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 3, 2026.
— With files from Kelly Geraldine Malone in Washington
