Canada remains ‘most important partner’ for US in ‘key areas’ – Prime minister

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks at a press conference in Ottawa, Ontario, on August 22, 2026 after trade talks with the US collapsed. Carney said his country could not accept US terms for a trade deal, and would slap retaliatory tariffs on steel and dairy products in response to heavy duties imposed by Washington. “We cannot accept what they’ve offered, and we will not give what they’ve asked,” Carney said in remarks on the failed negotiations, adding that Ottawa’s new trade measures would take effect on September 8. (Photo by Dave Chan / AFP)

Canada will remain a crucial partner for the United States in “key areas,” Prime Minister Mark Carney said Tuesday as he addressed a meeting of top global investors.

Carney told the Canada Investment Summit that the North American neighbors had always maintained close ties, “even at times of disagreement.”

“These arrangements work when we engage as true partners that respect each other’s traditions and sovereignty,” Carney told the small room of financial powerbrokers, hours after President Donald Trump imposed new tariffs on Canada.

“When those opportunities return, Canada will be an even better partner, stronger, more resilient, more independent,” he said.

“To our American friends, let me say this: We will always be neighbors, and Canada will continue to be the US’s most important partner in many key areas,” he added.

Carney organized the Toronto summit as part of his effort to curb Canada’s dependence on the United States.

The prime minister has warned that US trade hostility should be viewed as the new normal and that Canada needs to diversify.

In his opening address to the summit, he revived themes he articulated in a high-profile address to the World Economic Forum in January, arguing that Trump had triggered a “rupture” in the global order.

“Sovereignty and openness are now in tension. Economic integration is being weaponized. Tariffs are used as leverage,” he said on Tuesday, adding that supply chains are now used as “vulnerabilities to be exploited.”

But Carney has also acknowledged the importance of the US economy for Canada.

Roughly two-thirds of all Canadian exports head south of the border, a market that cannot be easily replaced.

Carney said Tuesday’s event is aimed at attracting more than Can$1 trillion (US$720 billion) in investment over the next five years.

He highlighted key sectors attractive to global capital, notably critical minerals and energy.

He particularly highlighted plans to build a new pipeline to the Pacific coast “that would carry at least one million barrels of low-emission Alberta oil per day to Asian markets.”

“We are unleashing our full potential as an energy superpower,” the prime minister said.