Amid a rift in ties between Canada and the United States, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has vowed to explore other options and diversify trade routes. With a visit to India on the cards by March, the Labour leader recently told his country’s parliament that “nothing is normal” in the US these days, especially when it comes to dealing with Donald Trump’s administration.
“The world has changed. Washington has changed. There’s almost nothing normal in the United States now. That’s the truth,” the prime minister said in French.
Carney’s speech in the House of Commons comes after his explosive address at the Davos Summit, where he stated that the rules-based international order led by the US was now enduring a “rupture”.
“Let me be direct. We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition,” Carney said at Davos. “The old order is not coming back,” he further said at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss town.
Carney’s speech saw support from other Western allies, leaving the US rattled.
In a phone call with Donald Trump on Monday, the Canadian PM said he told Trump that he stands by every word he said in Davos, and will not retreat, essentially junking the White House’s claim that Carney was “aggressively walking back” on his remarks .
“To be absolutely clear, and I said this to the (US) President: I meant what I said in Davos,” Carney told reporters in Ottawa, adding that they were the first country to understand the change in US trade policy that he initiated, “and we’re responding to that”.
India visit amid reset in ties
Mark Carney is expected to visit India in March, a move aimed at expanding bilateral trade after over two years of strained relations with New Delhi. As per reports, the Canadian PM is expected to be in New Delhi in the first week of March, barely a month India tables its budget for the 2026-27.
Since assuming office, Carney has worked towards repairing ties with India, which saw a diplomatic pause under former prime minister Justin Trudeau.
Canada’s pivot towards India also comes as New Delhi locked in the “mother of all deals” with the European Union.
Impacted by the 50% US tariffs, India has also rapidly moved to diversify its trade, relying less and less on Washington for support.
Despite “friendly relations” between PM Narendra Modi and Trump, India continues to face repeated tariff hike threats due to its ties with Russia and its purchase of oil from Moscow.
In its first reaction to the India-EU FTA, US trade representative Jamieson Greer said that deal has allowed India to “come out on top.”
“I’ve looked at some of the details of the deal so far. I think India comes out on top on this, frankly. They get more market access into Europe,” he said.
