Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney held a press briefing on Tuesday following a meeting with President Donald Trump.
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00:00President Trump and I met today as leaders of two sovereign, independent nations.
00:06And I want to thank the President and the members of his Cabinet that attended
00:10for welcoming me and my colleagues to the White House
00:14and for our very constructive discussions.
00:18I conveyed to the President today what our countries have long proven to be true,
00:24that Canada and the United States are stronger when we work together.
00:30We can get a better deal for our workers.
00:32We can create more opportunities for our businesses.
00:35We can build stronger economies across North America when we work together.
00:42And really today marked the end of the beginning of a process of the United States and Canada
00:49redefining that relationship of working together.
00:53The question is how we will cooperate in the future,
00:56how we can build an economic and security relationship built on mutual respect,
01:04built on common interests,
01:06and that delivers transformational benefits to our economies.
01:11We had what I would describe as wide-ranging and, as I said a moment ago, very constructive discussions.
01:23We agreed to have further conversations in the coming weeks
01:25and we are looking forward to meeting in person at the G7 summit in Kananaskis in Alberta.
01:32Now, while that's going on, in Canada, we will focus on what we can control.
01:39So, tomorrow, I will reunite with the Prime Minister for a call to make the point
01:48on the conversations that we have had here today and to discuss the work that is waiting for us.
01:56We are going to reinforce our strength at home.
02:01We will reinforce Canada's security for an increasingly dangerous and divided world.
02:07We will transform our border security, our security in the Arctic,
02:11and our support for our allies around the world.
02:15We will build an economy that creates jobs, grows incomes, and withstand shocks.
02:19We are, in fact, the strongest economy in the G7, an economy that works for everyone.
02:26We will build an innovative Canadian economy where we can all succeed in a world that is profoundly transformed.
02:37We will build infrastructures that will allow our businesses to join the new market around the world.
02:45We are masters in our own home, and we can give ourselves far more than any foreign government can ever take away.
02:58So, now is the time to build, and based on the discussion today, to build at home,
03:04and to build with our partners abroad, including the United States.
03:07Merci beaucoup. Thank you very much, and I look forward to your questions.
03:11Thank you, Prime Minister. We'll now begin the press conference.
03:13We'll begin with questions from the Travelling Delegation.
03:16First question, première question.
03:18Good afternoon, Prime Minister Tonda McCharles, Toronto Star.
03:21I was watching your face through the meeting in the Oval Office,
03:25and I wondered what was going through your mind when the President talked about re-erasing the artificial border,
03:31and how he criticized your predecessor and Madam Freeland.
03:36Well, thank you for, I guess, for your question.
03:40I'm glad that you couldn't tell what was going through my mind.
03:43As that was going through, look, the, with respect to the first point,
03:50the President has made known his wish about that issue for some time.
03:59I've been careful always to distinguish between wish and reality.
04:03I was clear there in the Oval Office, as I've been clear throughout on behalf of Canadians,
04:09that this is never going to happen.
04:11Canada is not for sale. It never will be for sale.
04:14Some things, as I said in the room, some things are never for sale, and he agreed with that.
04:19So, I distinguish between the two, and then with respect to the importance of re-establishing a constructive relationship
04:28for negotiations of a partnership, of an economic and security partnership, which is what we were here for,
04:35I look for it, not back, and I think we established a good basis today.
04:40What gives you, specifically, any indication that the President is willing to renegotiate a new trade deal with you and drop tariffs?
04:55Apart from the fact that he said that he would, is willing to have that negotiation, I think that's the main thing.
05:02That doesn't mean, that doesn't presuppose the outcome of the negotiation.
05:05As I've emphasized, it's a complex negotiation.
05:08There will be zigs and zags, difficult aspects to it.
05:11But the prospect is there.
05:14We discussed it in more detail.
05:16And as I said a moment ago, we'll be following up, both between officials, but also he and I in the coming weeks.
05:26Sorry.
05:29Bonjour, Monsieur Carney.
05:30Bonjour, Madame.
05:30Avec quoi ressortez-vous concrètement de cette rencontre avec M. Trump?
05:34Oui, nous avons eu une discussion à travers des sujets, des sujets géopolitiques et des sujets et des enjeux qui impliquent les relations commerciales du Canada et des États-Unis.
05:51Nous avons eu une trajée concrète.
05:53Nous avons eu une échange des perspectives en ce qui concerne les tarifs, les objectifs stratégiques des États-Unis, les objectifs stratégiques du Canada.
06:06Et il y a plusieurs enjeux sur lesquels on peut avancer les discussions.
06:18Alors, il y a un plan qui existe et une volonté qui existe entre les deux pays d'avancer les discussions.
06:27Mais il n'y a pas de décision sur n'importe quel tarif aujourd'hui.
06:34Quand il a été question, quand on a posé la question à M. Trump sur les tarifs, s'il avait l'intention, si vous pouviez faire quelque chose pour les lever, pour les supprimer, il a dit non.
06:43Comment est-ce que vous l'interprétez?
06:44Ce n'était pas une surprise pour moi. Pas du tout. Non, non, pas du tout. Parce que c'est une situation très complexe.
06:53Il y a plusieurs tarifs. Il y a des liens entre les initiatives américaines.
07:00Il y a un monde qui est plus dangereux et divisé.
07:02Et il y a des liens entre nos relations secrétaires et nos relations économiques.
07:10Alors, il n'y a pas une initiative canadienne qui peut changer cette situation.
07:20C'est la raison pour laquelle il faut avoir des discussions globales.
07:25Ce que je voulais dire, c'est qu'il faut s'attendre encore à ce que plusieurs mois, dans les prochains mois, ça reste.
07:31On verra. Non, non, on verra.
07:34On verra combien de temps ça va prendre.
07:41Question, prochaine question.
07:42Ce n'est pas nécessairement comme ça.
07:44Hi, Prime Minister. Joanna Smith from The Logic.
07:47At one point during the meeting in the Oval Office, the President, when talking about the tariffs and talking about a deal,
07:53it will also be very clear that when it comes to autos, his goal is to have carmakers make them in the U.S.
08:00and for the tariffs to not make any economical sense to be made in Canada anymore.
08:05Do you anticipate lifting tariffs on autos at any point?
08:09And what did you tell him in the room about that topic?
08:12Well, we had discussion about all the major issues in the room, so to speak, in the lunch afterwards, including autos.
08:21And specifically, without going into the full details, the strategic position of the North American auto industry,
08:28or more specifically, the Canadian U.S. auto industry versus foreign competition, including from Asia, and how that could be enhanced.
08:37I, and the Canadian government, and I would say the Canadian auto industry, I would actually say the auto industry as a whole,
08:46is of the view that Canada, the Canadian auto workers, Canadian auto companies, Canadian parts companies, Canadian steel, Canadian aluminum,
08:55all play an important role in enhancing the competitiveness of American auto companies.
09:01So we will continue to press that case and look for an arrangement that takes full advantage of it for the benefit of the United States,
09:09but of course, from our perspective, very much for the benefit of Canada.
09:13And what did he ask you about China in your closed-door meetings, and what did you tell him?
09:17That's why they're closed-door.
09:21Let's see, let's see, well, yeah.
09:23We had a wide-ranging discussion.
09:25Next question, prochaine question.
09:26Bonjour, Monsieur Corny.
09:28Michel Strabat, La Presse canadienne.
09:29Je vais essayer de faire du chemin sur la question de ma collègue Mélanie un peu plus tôt.
09:33Est-ce que vous repartez avec quoi que ce soit de tangible au niveau du commerce des droits de douane?
09:39Et comme j'ai dit il y a quelques jours, je n'attendais pas qu'il y aura de fumée blanc ici, OK?
09:52Parce que ce sont des négociations, comme je viens de dire, très complexes.
09:56Il y a beaucoup d'aspects, mais on a fait du progrès.
10:00On a fait du progrès.
10:02Nous avons eu des échanges très compréhensifs, très tangibles.
10:07Et il y aura des réunions entre les ministres et les fonctionnaires.
10:15Et puis, entre lui et moi, lui, Monsieur le Président, et moi, sur l'appel, et on a ouvert ça au mi-juin.
10:26Alors, on a fait du progrès, mais toujours dans les négociations commerciales, n'importe quelle négociation commerciale, il y a un processus et le fin.
10:40Et pas nécessairement de progrès qui est apparent pendant les négociations.
10:47Ça, c'est les vies de la négociation.
10:50OK?
10:50In English, I mean, to summarize, look, in a negotiation, you don't get, like, little elements of it.
10:59You get an end to a negotiation.
11:01We're having a very complex negotiation about a wide range of issues.
11:05And it's, as I said before I came here, I wouldn't have expected white smoke coming out of this meeting.
11:10That was not my expectation, because of the nature of the negotiation.
11:14So, you don't expect to have specific progress as things move along, even when you're making progress, because it's a global, that's why it's a global negotiation.
11:25Parlant de l'Alberta, que pensez-vous de l'idée de Daniel Smith d'encourager la tenue d'un référendum sur la souveraineté d'Alberta?
11:32Le Canada est plus fort que quand nous travaillons ensemble comme Canadiens et Canadiens.
11:41Et je suis albertain, et je crois fièrement en Canada.
11:48Alors, on peut poser la question, mais pour moi, la réponse est claire.
11:53Le Canada est plus fort que quand nous travaillons ensemble.
12:01Comme Albertain, je crois que vous pouvez toujours demander une question, mais je sais que je vais répondre clairement.
12:08Troisième question.
12:09Bonjour, M. Carney. Olivier Ferrand-Boissé de TVA.
12:12Est-ce que M. Trump vous a convaincu qu'il voulait bel et bien renégocier l'accord de libre-échange,
12:16parce que ça ne semblait pas clair dans le bureau avant tout à l'heure?
12:19Non, c'est clair. C'est clair. Oui.
12:21Oui.
12:22À plusieurs reprises que…
12:24C'est clair qu'il y aura…
12:26Oui. Nous avons commencé la renégociation de nos relations commerciales, y compris l'ALENA.
12:38OK?
12:38Vous aviez dit à plusieurs reprises que, selon vous, M. Trump voulait nous briser pour nous posséder.
12:46Est-ce que c'est encore votre lecture de ses intentions après votre rencontre d'aujourd'hui?
12:49Je crois que nous sommes forts.
12:54Et le Canada devient de plus en plus fort, jour après jour, semaine après semaine, avec le nouveau gouvernement.
13:03Alors, il va être déçu de cette idée.
13:07Merci.
13:09Merci.
13:10Good afternoon, Prime Minister.
13:11J.P. Tasker, CBC News.
13:12How are you?
13:13I'm well, thank you, J.P.
13:14How are you?
13:15I'm good.
13:16Good.
13:17Do you feel better or worse about Canada-U.S. relations after meeting with the President today?
13:22Look, it was a very constructive meeting.
13:26I feel better about the relations in the sense of, in many respects.
13:31One, the posture, if I can put it that way, or the positioning the President took towards
13:39us.
13:41Secondly, the breadth of discussion and how concrete the discussions were.
13:51These are the discussions you have when you're looking to find solutions as opposed to laying
13:56down terms, if you will.
13:59I also feel better about that.
14:00And I would add one other thing, which maybe isn't as obvious, so I should say it, which
14:05is that we also discussed a number of issues globally, geostrategically, if I can put it
14:11that way, where we have common interests, common concerns.
14:15And that, of course, is a sign of a broader and very healthy relationship.
14:21Look, we have a lot more work to do.
14:24I'm not trying to suggest, at any respect, that we can have one meeting and everything's
14:29changed, but now we are engaged and very fully engaged.
14:34Good afternoon, Prime Minister Ashley Burke, CBC News.
14:38What specifically did you say to President Trump about lifting tariffs on Canada?
14:43And based on your conversations, what do you think it would take to get those tariffs lifted,
14:47and how long could it take?
14:48Well, I can't answer the second part of your question, because we don't make that decision.
14:54But certainly press the case in a number of areas where we think the tariffs should be
15:00lifted.
15:01And specifically, I'll give an example with respect to the scourge of fentanyl and the considerable
15:10efforts that have been made at our border, and behind the border in terms of raids as
15:15well.
15:17Huge investments in border personnel, in drone surveillance, Blackhawk surveillance.
15:23And then those are being reinforced, as you would have seen during the campaign, commitments
15:30to another 2,000, in effect, 1,000 border guards through CBSA, another 1,000 RCMP, further
15:37efforts there.
15:38And what we're seeing is huge results for this.
15:42Canada's contribution to this problem, cross-border problem, was always very small, but it's down
15:47by over 90 percent with the efforts.
15:50And it is an absolute focus of the government.
15:53So that is an example of where we would see the case being very strong for the tariffs to
15:59be removed.
16:00We've made that case.
16:01We'll see where that goes.
16:04In other areas, the tariffs are, in our view, not in the interests of American competitiveness
16:12and jobs.
16:13We have more work to do on making those cases on that.
16:18En français, sur le fentanyl, s'il vous plaît?
16:20Pardon?
16:21Sur le fentanyl?
16:22Sur le fentanyl, alors, nous avons fait beaucoup de progrès en ce qui concerne le fentanyl.
16:29Il y a une chute.
16:31On a commencé avec un niveau très bas par rapport au Mexique.
16:38C'est moins de 1 %, mais il y avait une chute de le niveau, le montant de fentanyl.
16:49C'est presque 0,1 % maintenant des exemples.
16:58Alors, mais ce n'est pas par hasard parce que nous avons investi beaucoup en ce qui concerne
17:06la sécurité de notre frontière.
17:08Et mon gouvernement va réinvestir de plus, 20 % de plus, par exemple, par rapport Ã
17:15les agents de la frontière.
17:18Alors, le cas pour enlever ou supprimer les tarifs de fentanyl est très fort, très fort
17:26maintenant.
17:28We'll have time for one last question and follow-up.
17:30Dernière question, une question de suivi.
17:32Hi, Prime Minister.
17:33Stephanie Taylor with the National Post.
17:35I heard you say, you know, there's a difference between the President's comments
17:39around Canada becoming a 51st state as a wish versus a reality.
17:43You told him that Canada was not for sale.
17:46But many Canadians are offended and deeply angered by the fact that he keeps repeating
17:51this comment.
17:52So, have you asked the President to stop calling Canada the 51st state?
17:56Yes.
17:57What did you ask him?
17:58Today.
17:59Specifically, what did you ask him?
18:01Exactly what you just said.
18:03What words did you use?
18:04How did you ask him?
18:05Look, I gave you an answer.
18:07I gave you an answer.
18:08Do you have a follow-up?
18:09No.
18:10What was his answer?
18:12Well, look, I don't know.
18:14He's the President.
18:15He's his own person.
18:17I would go back to showing the difference between a wish and a reality.
18:23We're very clear.
18:24I've been very clear publicly, consistently.
18:26I've been very clear in private.
18:28It was clear again in the Oval Office.
18:30It would be clear throughout.
18:33The President, he understands that we're having a negotiation between sovereign nations
18:40and that we will only pursue and accept a deal that's in the best interests of Canada,
18:47not just in the short term, but in the medium and long term for Canada.
18:51I said it's not useful to repeat this idea.
18:58I said it to him, but the President, he will say what he wants.
19:12But there's a big difference between reality and will, as you know.
19:19This will be the last question.
19:20Sorry, just last question.
19:21Okay.
19:22Steph didn't take a follow-up.
19:23So last question, please.
19:25This is Vipal Manga from the Wall Street Journal.
19:26Given what's happened with the USMCA and the tariffs that Canada is facing, how do you
19:29trust that the U.S. right now is negotiating in good faith, and how do you trust in a deal
19:33that you signed with them?
19:34We'll make that determination over the course of the negotiations.
19:37I mean, that's the bottom line on that.
19:41It's a process, you see, and I would emphasize the following, which is that we have been in
19:49the process, as most would know, of an election, and so this is the point at which a serious discussion
19:58begins.
20:00And so we had the President at his invitation.
20:05I'm here.
20:06He welcomed us.
20:07We had a very substantive, wide-ranging discussion with the President, but in the presence of
20:12the Vice President, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, and beyond,
20:20his Chief of Staff as well.
20:22I'm in trouble.
20:23Stephen Miller.
20:24I think that covers it.
20:27That covers it?
20:28I hope so.
20:31And we have some very specific things to follow up on and build out from that.
20:37And in any negotiation, then you make a determination based on that.
20:41Also, part of what you make a determination based on is, are the incentives aligned in the
20:48agreement that you get.
20:51And I think the lesson would be, of this experience, is to ensure that the incentives are aligned
20:59and durably so, between the two countries.
21:03And that is a way that agreements are self-reinforcing.
21:06Thank you very much.
21:07Prime Minister, this was an extra press conference.
21:08It's what he made at our conference.