Carney Seeks 'Unique Alliance' with EU as US Trade War Deepens

Prime Minister Mark Carney has said Canada is pursuing a "unique alliance" with the European Union, though not membership of the bloc, as its trade war with the United States intensifies. "What we are looking - and will begin discussions for - [is] a unique alliance with the European Union," he told reporters in Toronto on Sunday. The Canadian leader will travel to the UK and France this week and is due to address the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

His remarks follow a Wall Street Journal report that EU officials were open to a suggestion from Carney that Canada could become an "associate member" of the bloc, according to officials from both sides. The paper reported that Carney had instructed his special envoy to Europe to scope out the most ambitious possibilities short of full membership. Speaking at the Toronto International Film Festival, he denied that Canada was seeking formal membership. "We share the same values. We have the same priorities, and we have very complementary strengths," he said. "We're stronger together. And this is at a time when the world's more dangerous and divided, and friends need to stick together at these times."

Relations between Ottawa and Washington have deteriorated sharply. Trade negotiations broke down in late August, and the US has since imposed tariffs on key Canadian sectors including steel, aluminium and lumber, alongside an additional 50% levy on about C$28bn ($20bn; £15bn) of Canadian goods. Ottawa retaliated with levies of up to 50% on C$28bn ($20bn; £15bn) of American products, from steel to furniture to cotton T-shirts.

While in Europe, Carney will attend Ursula von der Leyen's State of the European Union address as the European Commission president sets out her priorities. He will also travel to Liverpool to meet UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham. Since taking office, Carney has promoted a strategy aimed at building a "more independent, more resilient economy" in the face of increasingly hostile policy from the Trump administration. The US president has spoken of making Canada a "51st state" and recently ordered his government to rename Lake Ontario as "Lake America".

In January, Carney used a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos to urge middle powers to come together, warning that the "old order is not coming back". His European tour signals a determination to convert that argument into something concrete, though the precise shape of any alliance remains to be negotiated. For now, the language is of shared values and complementary strengths rather than treaties and institutions. Whether Brussels and Ottawa can translate warm words into durable arrangements will be tested in the months ahead, as both confront an American administration willing to use trade as an instrument of pressure.