Carney replies to Trump: “No one will tell us” with whom to make agreements

“ Nsomeone will tell us in which language we have to speak or with whom we can sign international agreements,” said Mark Carney, during a joint press conference with the President of the European Parliament which took place shortly after giving a speech to MEPs in Strasbourg, France.

The US President threatened to cut trade relations with the European Union should Canada become an associate member of the bloc, as proposed on Wednesday by the President of the European Commission.

“I think it’s ridiculous,” Trump reacted, adding that he can consider the measure as a hostile act.

“If they do, if I consider it a hostile act, I will impose too high tariffs or interrupt all trade with Europe,” he threatened.

Mark Carney stressed that the country has the sovereign right to extend its trading network and ensured that the partnership with the EU is not an attack on anyone but a means of doubling Canada's access to global markets and reaching three billion consumers.

The Canadian Prime Minister also said that he remains available to negotiate agreements with the US, but stressed that any negotiations must be made on the basis of mutual respect for the sovereignty and institutions of each country.

The spokesman of the European Commission for Trade, Olof Gill, had previously ensured that the new partnership “is not directed against anyone”.

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, proposed on Wednesday that Canada become the EU’s first “associated member” country in her speech on the State of the Union before MEPs.

The President of the European Commission has also proposed that Canada join a future European Security Council.

The deepening of the relationship between Ottawa and Brussels takes place in the middle of a trade war with the US which imposed new customs charges on most EU exports and threatened to make Canada the 51st state of the United States.