Carney: Canada retaliatory tariffs to stay until ‘America shows us some respect’

Mark Carney’s decisive win marks a turning point for Canada’s Liberal Party, which had suffered in the polls as outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau became increasingly unpopular. “[Carney] can represent a form of change within the Liberal party that may be convincing enough for Canadians to overcome their fatigue with a 10-year-old government,” one expert told the Financial Times, referring to the Liberal’s chances of winning the country’s general election later this year. While Canada’s Conservatives were polling with a 20-point lead at the start of 2025, their leader has since “been hurt by a perception that he is ideologically aligned with the US president,” The New York Times noted: “Trump’s bellicosity has upended the race.”

Mark Carney has sought to compensate for his lack of political experience by portraying himself as an experienced crisis manager, capable of navigating Canada’s economic challenges, which include a domestic housing crisis and an escalating global trade war. In his time leading the Bank of England, Carney “steadied the ship” after Brexit, Santander’s executive chairman said, and was praised for his handling of the 2008 financial crisis as governor of the Bank of Canada. Now, he faces US President Donald Trump’s threatened tariffs: These could shrink Canada’s GDP by 2.6%, but Carney “is unusually well equipped to deal with economic crises,” one expert said. Against this backdrop, Carney simply ”looks reassuring,″ The Economist noted.