Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday (local time) hit back at the US, saying it should “stop doing memes, stop throwing shade and stop trying to be tough,” as he pushed back against a fresh wave of online barbs from the Trump administration, days after trade talks between the two sides collapsed.Carney also said trade talks could resume if Washington became “serious” about negotiations.“When the Americans stop doing memes, stop throwing shade and stop trying to be tough, and start being serious about having those discussions, we can have those discussions. It’s not constructive, but that’s their democracy,” he told reporters.The Canadian premier described the US approach in the talks as one that would have left Canadian industries effectively as “subsidiaries” of American companies or imposed terms under which they would be “gradually wound down in Canada and wiped out.”“We’re not going to — of course, we’re not going to accept those terms,” he said.Carney further stated that the US sought an “uncompetitive” deal for key industries, including autos, while also pushing changes affecting French-language and cultural protections. He argued that any one of those issues would have been enough to block an agreement.Washington also sought limits on Canada’s future trade deals, Carney noted. “Canada is a sovereign state. We will strike free trade deals with the countries we wish to strike free trade deals,” he asserted.Still, Carney acknowledged that there had been “mutually beneficial” elements to a potential deal before the talks broke down.His comments came amid a fresh barrage of criticism from Washington following the collapse of trade talks on August 21. Trump has since moved to rename Lake Ontario “Lake America” and taunted Canada on social media, while US treasury secretary Scott Bessent warned that Canada could not go “tit for tat” with an economy “13 times larger.”US secretary of war Pete Hegseth also mocked the Canadian military online, posting an image Monday of two female cadets at a training center in British Columbia alongside the words “this is real” and a Canadian flag. Carney described the post as “beneath their office.” The Pentagon, however, stood by the post Tuesday, saying, “The X post speaks for itself.”The trade talks broke down after the two sides failed to reach an agreement, prompting Trump to impose 50% tariffs on roughly $20 billion worth of Canadian goods. Ottawa’s retaliatory tariffs on nearly $20 billion in US goods are scheduled to take effect September 8, with duties ranging from 15% to 50%.Trump has repeatedly talked about making Canada the “51st US state” since returning to the White House in January 2025.(With AP inputs)
