Canada not 'taking instructions' from US amid trade talks: Carney

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney pushed back Thursday against the notion that Canada is yielding to American pressure in trade negotiations, insisting Ottawa is approaching the talks as an equal partner.

"There's two parties in a negotiation. We're not sitting here taking notes and taking instructions from the United States," Carney told reporters in Ottawa. Canada is "understanding their position" while identifying areas of shared benefit.

"We understand where it's in Canada's interest, in our joint interests, to be stronger together," he said. "This is a government that can do many things at one time."

Carney drew a sharp distinction between manageable trade friction and what he called outright violations. He said that a "50% tariff on steel, 50% tariff on aluminum, 25% tariff on automobiles, all the tariffs on forest products -- those are more than irritants. Those are violations."

Emphasizing that the US is Canada's "biggest trading partner by far," he also said Canada is the "second-biggest trading partner" for the US.

"There is a symbiosis between the two," he added.

Carney expressed a readiness to sit down with the US to address "a series of trade issues."

Saying that the "trade irritants" related to negotiations are in "is a review process," he explained that they are being "baked into the existing framework of the agreement."

The premier underscored that negotiations are there to see "where there are opportunities, where we can be stronger together."

He dismissed reports of an "entry fee" requested by the US ahead of negotiations. "It's not language I've ever used. And it's not language, I've ever heard from the President of the United States."