KUALA LUMPUR — Prime Minister Mark Carney used his platform at the ASEAN leaders summit in Malaysia on Sunday to reaffirm Canada’s commitment to fair and rules-based trade, taking a thinly veiled swipe at the Trump administration without naming it 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 declared, in remarks that contrasted sharply with U.S. President Donald Trump’s escalating rhetoric toward Canada.
Just hours earlier, Trump had threatened to impose an additional 10-per-cent tariff on Canadian goods over an Ontario government television campaign that criticized U.S. tariffs and featured clips of former president Ronald Reagan. The $75-million campaign, which aired in U.S. markets, was pulled late Friday after Trump suspended trade talks with Canada, though not quickly enough to avoid a backlash.
Speaking to reporters later, Carney maintained that Ottawa remains focused on dialogue. “It is the sole responsibility of the government of Canada to have those discussions with the United States, and it’s the best way forward,” he said, declining to answer follow-up questions.
The trade flare-up comes despite earlier optimism that both sides were close to resolving sectoral tariff disputes following Carney’s recent visit to the White House. Business leaders, including Goldy Hyder of the Business Council of Canada, cautioned that the spat underscores the need for Canada to “get its act together” ahead of next year’s renegotiation of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).
Carney’s ASEAN remarks also emphasized Canada’s pivot toward diversification. He highlighted plans to double non-U.S. exports within a decade, quadruple defence spending over four years — particularly in cybersecurity and AI — and finalize new trade agreements across Southeast Asia. Canada recently signed its first such pact with Indonesia and aims to complete a comprehensive ASEAN-wide deal by next year.
Carney met with leaders from the Philippines, Laos, and Vietnam during the summit and reiterated that Canada seeks to be a “reliable partner” amid what he described as an era of growing “transactional bilateral trade” and renewed great-power rivalry.
Meanwhile, Trump, who arrived in Kuala Lumpur for a peace-signing ceremony between Thailand and Cambodia, did not cross paths with Carney. He is expected to depart for Japan on Monday, leaving open the question of whether the two leaders will meet later this week at the APEC forum in South Korea.