MONTREAL (Reutters) - Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and the European Union’s top official pushed Thursday to make Canada the bloc’s first “associate member” and build a broader alliance open to other countries as they warned of threats to sovereignty from economic coercion during U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war.
Speaking in Montreal on Thursday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Canada and the EU would form the core of the proposed “Alliance for the Future,” but other like-minded countries would be welcome to join.
Echoing Carney’s warning at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, von der Leyen said economic relationships once considered sources of stability were increasingly being used as instruments of pressure.
“When trade becomes a tool of economic pressure, it is families that pay the price, from the supermarket shelf to the cost of a new car,” she said. “We are seeing in real time our sovereignty being attacked.”
Carney said the alliance would help Canada withstand economic shocks and prevent foreign governments and technology companies from dictating its choices.
“Why does sovereignty matter in a dangerous and divided world? It allows us to withstand shocks,” Carney said at a news conference. “It allows us to live our lives as we choose.”
Von der Leyen said the broader alliance would go beyond Canada’s potential associate membership, focusing on critical minerals, resilient supply chains, defense and security.
“This is a wider concept,” she said at a business roundtable alongside Carney. “Other like-minded trusted partners are welcome.”
Trump has suggested Canada’s proposed EU arrangement could be a “hostile act” and threatened tariffs on Europe if he considered it unfriendly. Asked Wednesday about possible retaliation, a senior Canadian government official told reporters the closer relationship was not directed against the United States but reflected longstanding shared interests.
The White House said Thursday that U.S. trade and commerce officials had held discussions with their Canadian counterparts in recent days. The statement came in response to a question about Canada’s pursuit of closer ties with the EU.