Two days after being sworn in, Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney is in Paris on his first state visit, as his country’s economy and sovereignty are under threat from the United States.
Issued on: 17/03/2025 - 07:39
1 min
"My visit to France and the United Kingdom will strengthen trade, commercial, and defence ties with two of our strongest and most reliable partners," Carney said in a statement released before he set off from Ottawa, two days after he was sworn in to replace Justin Trudeau.
Canada is in need of “reliable partners” after its biggest trading partner, the United States, imposed escalating tariffs on Canadian goods, threatening to trigger a recession, and US President Donald Trump has threatened to make Canada the “51st state of the United States".
France is Canada's 11th-largest trading partner and the UK its third, and Canada is also part of the a free trade agreement with the European Union – the Comprehensive economic and trade agreement (CETA) – as well as the Comprehensive and progressive trans-pacific partnership (CPTPP), which now also includes Britain.
Carney will have a working lunch with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Monday, to discuss how to "build stronger economic, commercial, and defence ties,” according to Carney’s office,
According to the Elysée, the two leaders "will discuss Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, international crises, and projects at the heart" of the "strategic partnership" between Paris and Canada.
Canada, France and Britain have maintained strong support for Ukraine since Russia's invasion in February 2022, even as Trump's US administration has shifted its alliances, and France and Britain are looking for allies to join a coalition security force in Ukraine.
In London – where Carney he once worked as governor of the Bank Of England – he will meet with Prime Minister Keir Starmer and King Charles III, who is head of state in both Britain and Canada.
On his return leg, Carney will visit Iqaluit, in Nunavut, the Canadian territory closest to the Danish autonomous country of Greenland – which Trump has also threatened to annex – to "reaffirm Canada's Arctic security and sovereignty."
(with AFP)