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Canada's new prime minister, Mark Carney, has been hailed by experts as a "superb choice" to lead the country through U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war.
A former central banker and political outsider who has never held office, Carney was sworn in on March 14, five days after being elected the governing Liberal Party's leader. He replaces Justin Trudeau, who announced his resignation in January.
"His demonstrated track record leading with experience, judgment and integrity put him in remarkably rarefied air among North American public officials," Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, the senior associate dean for Leadership Studies at the Yale School of Management, told Newsweek.
However, Carney's credentials have been immediately put to the test over U.S.-Canada relations. These have become strained following Trump's repeated remarks about making Canada the 51st U.S. state and announcements of tariffs of 25 percent and more on many imports from the country—prompting retaliatory levies from Canada.
Trump's tariffs were due to come into effect on February 4, but the president postponed them for a month amid negotiations. Canadian officials said retaliatory tariffs would remain in place.
On March 5, Trump further delayed levies on cars made in North America, then six days later said he would double his planned steel and aluminum tariffs to 50 percent for Canada—only to halt the rise hours later. He posted on his social media platform Truth Social: "The only thing that makes sense is for Canada to become our cherished Fifty First State. This would make all Tariffs, and everything else, totally disappear."
The same day, Ontario Premier Doug Ford suspended 25 percent retaliatory tariffs on electricity to parts of the northern United States after a phone call with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick.
Managing Economic Crises
While Carney may lack experience in office, he is no stranger to dealing with economic turbulence.
He ran the Bank of Canada from 2008 to 2013 and won praise for handling the 2008 financial crisis. In 2013 he was recruited as governor of the Bank of England and helped manage the worst impacts on the U.K. of Brexit—the "British exit" of the nation from the European Union and its economic structures on January 31, 2020. An 11-month transition period, in which a new Trade and Cooperation Agreement took effect, ensued.
Carney has repeatedly spoken about how he plans to handle Trump's tariffs, and in his speech after being elected Liberal leader on March 9, he said: "There's someone who's trying to weaken our economy: Donald Trump. Donald Trump...has put unjustified tariffs on what we build, on what we sell, on how we earn a living. He's attacking Canadian workers, families and businesses, and we cannot let him succeed. And we won't."
He added that Canada "is rightly retaliating with our own tariffs that will have maximum impact in the United States and minimum impact here in Canada. My government will keep our tariffs on until the Americans show us respect."
Sonnenfeld said Carney is "a superb choice" as prime minister, adding: "I know people who worked with him in the U.K., Canada and the World Economic Forum. He gets soaring reviews for his competence and his character—across sectors, ideologies and continents. I have heard from over 12 CEOs in the past day, asking, 'Why can't the U.S. field a smart, experienced, stable, wise political leader like Carney?'"
Jeffrey Sachs, an economist and professor at Columbia University, agreed, telling Newsweek: "Simply put, Mark Carney is one of the most talented and experienced world leaders, with a vast experience in the public and private sectors. Superb choice for Canada. Carney will not only be the right Canadian interlocutor with Trump but will add importantly to global leadership generally."
However, others suggested that Trump and Carney's opposing views could make the road to rebuilding U.S.-Canada relations a bumpy one.
Andrew Hale, a trade policy analyst at conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation, does not think the pair "are going to have a great deal in common." He referred to conflicting views over environmental issues such as the 1,179-mile Keystone XL oil pipeline, which would run from Alberta to Nebraska and for which President Joe Biden canceled permits in 2021.
"President Trump wants the Keystone XL pipeline and Mark Carney is religiously devoted to ESG [environmental, social and governance] and viscerally opposed to fossil fuels.... Carney is religious about ESG and that will be grounds for disagreement with the U.S.," Hale told Newsweek.
Acknowledging the battle ahead, Carney said after being sworn in: "We will never, ever, in any way, shape or form, be part of the United States. America is not Canada."
He added that he understands "the scourge of fentanyl"—the illicit flow of which Trump has used to justify tariffs—but wants Trump "to understand the importance we put on Canadian workers and Canadian jobs."
Days earlier, Carney said "the Americans, they should make no mistake: In trade, as in hockey, Canada will win. But this victory will not be easy."
In the meantime, Carney's appointment is widely expected to trigger an election soon. The U.S. faces its own upheaval after market turmoil due to tariffs imposed on Canada, Mexico and China led to several economists forecasting a recession within the next year.
