Headline Roundup • January 26th, 2026
Canadian PM Says 'No Intention' of Signing Free Trade Deal With China After Trump Threatens 100% Tariff
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney says that Canada now has "no intention" of signing a free trade deal with China after President Donald Trump threatened a 100% tariff.
The Details: On Sunday, Carney said that Canada would "respect its commitments and engagements" under the United States Mexico Canada (USMCA) trade agreement and would not pursue free trade agreements with countries that have non market economies, such as China. Carney had visited the country earlier in January in an effort to resolve tariff issues and diversify its trade with China; China is Canada's third-largest trading partner.
Key Quotes: On Saturday, Trump posted on Truth Social, "If Governor Carney thinks he is going to make Canada a 'Drop Off Port' for China to send goods and products into the United States, he is sorely mistaken." On Sunday, Carney said, "We have no intention of doing that with China or any other non-market economy. What we have done with China is to rectify some issues that developed in the last couple of years."
For Context: A week and a half ago, Carney announced that Canada and China entered a "strategic partnership" that involved a preliminary trade deal. A few days ago, Trump threatened Canada with a 100% tariff, leading to Carney's decision not to pursue a free trade deal with China. According to The Guardian (Left bias), the "strategic partnership" would have included "a commitment to import 49,000 electric vehicles from China at preferential tariff rates." Trump also withdrew Carney's invitation to sit on his Gaza peace board, which Carney had accepted for an initial three-year term.
How the Media Covered It: Carney's remarks were widely covered by media sources across the political spectrum CNBC (Lean Left) and Euronews (Center) reported that Carney had warned against economic coercion by the world's superpowers when he spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last week, leading to Trump's withdrawing his invitation to Canada to join his Board of Peace. Fox News (Right) described Carney as "pushing back" on Trump's tariff threat and highlighted Trump's comment that China is "completely taking over" Canada.
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Bloomberg | Getty Images
Canada has "no intention" of pursuing a free trade deal with China, Prime Minister Mark Carney said, after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to slap punitive tariffs on Ottawa.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Carney said that the country respects its obligations under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade agreement, known as CUSMA in Canada and the USMCA in the U.S., and will not pursue a free trade agreement without notifying the other two parties.
Carney's remarks come after Trump threatened to put a 100% tariff on Canadian exports if Ottawa "makes a...
Carney said his recent agreement with China merely cuts tariffs on a few sectors that were hit with levies. The deal had prompted Trump to threaten a 100% tariff on goods imported from Canada.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Sunday that his country has no intention of pursuing a free trade deal with China.
He was responding to US President Donald Trump's threat to impose a 100% tariff on goods imported from Canada if America's northern neighbour went ahead with a trade deal with Beijing.
Carney said his...
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Sunday that Canada has no plans to pursue a free trade deal with China, pushing back against President Trump's threat to slap 100% tariffs on Canadian goods.
Carney said Canada's recent agreement with China only rolled back tariffs in a few sectors that had been hit in recent years and did not amount to a free trade deal. He noted that under the U.S.–Mexico–Canada Agreement, Canada has committed not to pursue free trade agreements with nonmarket economies without prior notification.
"We have no intention...
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