Carney denies retracting Davos speech in call with Trump

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters he supported a speech at the Davos forum calling for an unfettered superpower, after Trump officials said he “aggressively” walked back the remarks in a call with U.S. President Donald Trump.

“To be absolutely clear, the words I said to the president are the words I said in Davos,” Carney said on Tuesday, confirming that he and Trump had spoken by phone.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant told Fox News on Monday that Carney was “very aggressive in walking back” some of his comments about Trump.

Carney made global headlines for his Davos speech, in which he indirectly called on the US president to “destroy” the postwar world order.

Trump responded in a speech in Davos the next day, saying “Canada exists because of the United States.”

Speaking to reporters in Ottawa on Tuesday, Carney dismissed Bessant’s recollection of the call.

He added that the person who called him on Monday was the U.S. president, and the two had a “very good conversation on a wide range of topics,” including Ukraine, Venezuela, Arctic security and Canada’s recent trade deal with China.

Carney said the two also discussed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), a free trade agreement between Canada, the United States and Mexico that is due for mandatory review later this year.

Carney said his speech in Davos clearly outlined that “Canada is the first country to understand the changes in U.S. trade policy initiated by (Trump) and we are responding to them.”

He added that the president understands Canada’s position.

In an interview with Fox News on Monday, Bessant criticized Canada’s decision to negotiate a trade deal with China. He added that he was “not sure what the prime minister was thinking” when he spoke in Davos.

“Canada is dependent on the United States,” Bessant said. “There’s a lot more north-south trade than east-west trade.”

“The prime minister should be doing what’s best for the Canadian people rather than trying to push his globalist agenda,” the finance minister added.

His remarks came after Trump threatened Canada to impose 100% tariffs on Chinese goods if it allowed the free flow of Chinese goods to the United States and circumvented tariffs.

The deal between Ottawa and Beijing will reduce tariffs on Canadian canola oil from 85 per cent to 15 per cent in March, while Canada will tax a limited number of Chinese electric vehicles at a most-favored-nation rate of 6.1 per cent – down from 100 per cent.

Carney said Canada is not seeking a free trade agreement with China and has “never” considered it.

Carney told reporters on Monday that he believed Trump’s latest tariff threat was a negotiating tactic ahead of talks on the U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement.

“The president is a strong negotiator and I think some of these comments and positions should be viewed in a broader context,” he said.