Carney says Canada can wait for the right conditions in Trump trade war
and emerge stronger
[September 16, 2026] By
ROB GILLIES
TORONTO (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Tuesday that
Canada intends to emerge from its trade war with the United States as a
more resilient and independent economy, signaling that Ottawa is
prepared to wait for the right conditions rather than rush into a deal
with Washington.
“And to our American friends, let me say this. We will always be
neighbors,” Carney told hundreds of global investors gathered in Toronto
for his Canada Investment Summit. But he said the relationship works
when the two countries engage as “true partners that respect each
other’s traditions and sovereignty.”
“When those opportunities return, Canada will be an even better partner
— stronger, more resilient, more independent,” he said.
Carney also unveiled a major expansion of business tax breaks that the
government says will nearly halve Canada’s effective tax rate on new
investment to 6.4%, less than half the U.S. rate, as Canada competes
with the United States for global capital.
The expanded “productivity mega deduction” will allow businesses to
immediately write off more than 65% of eligible capital investment, up
from roughly 15%.
“The incentive for companies to invest in Canada is twice as high as it
is in the United States,” Carney said.
Canadian Chamber of Commerce President Candace Laing called the tax
change “a launchpad to make Canada globally tax competitive,” saying it
was “a moment we’ve been waiting for.”
Carney also announced that Ottawa will seek private investment through
long-term concessions to operate Canada’s four largest airports, while
retaining public ownership of the land and assets. He said the plan
could raise tens of billions of dollars to reinvest in transportation
and other infrastructure.
Without naming U.S. President Donald Trump, Carney then took aim at the
increasingly transactional and zero-sum approach to international
economic relationships that has characterized Trump’s trade policies.
“Our reputation — as a reliable, predictable partner — has rarely been
more valuable in a world where transactions are replacing relationships,
and zero-sum is favored over win-win,” Carney said.
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Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks during a fireside chat with the
Chief Executive Officer of PSP Investments, Deborah Orida, in
Toronto, on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026. (Nathan Denette /The Canadian
Press via AP)
 Carney said economic integration and
national sovereignty are increasingly in tension, arguing that
countries seeking to preserve their independence need to work more
closely with like-minded partners. He heads to Europe later Tuesday,
where he is scheduled to address the European Parliament.
Trump has repeatedly used tariffs to pressure trading partners and
pressed manufacturers to shift production and investment south of
the Canadian border. He has also repeatedly talked about making
Canada the 51st U.S. state, comments that have further strained
relations between the longtime allies.
But Carney noted that about 80% of the trade with the U.S. remains
tariff-free.
“There is a mutually beneficial arrangement that can be had,” Carney
said in a fireside chat after his speech. “When it is the right time
to strike that deal, we’ll be ready to do that.”
Trade talks between Canada and the United States collapsed last
month before Washington imposed 50% tariffs on about $20 billion in
Canadian goods, prompting retaliation from Ottawa. The United States
has since announced additional restrictions on Canadian products.
Carney suggested Canada cannot build its strategy around a return to
the old relationship. “We know that nostalgia is not a strategy,” he
said.
Carney also joked about the uneasy state of the U.S.-Canada
relationship, contrasting a ceremonial key he once received from his
hometown of Fort Smith, Northwest Territories, with a box of gold
keys to the White House that Trump later gave him.
Carney said Trump told him that if he brought the key, “They’ll let
you in,” before adding: “Maybe they’ll shoot you.”
“And that sort of sums up the relationship,” Carney said. “In
Canada, you get the key. In the U.S., they might shoot you.”
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