Canada, US to start trade talks in May: Carney

Canada and the United States will start talks on a new trade deal in early May, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Friday, warning President Donald Trump's trade war was already hitting Canada's labor market.

Carney made the comments in Ottawa after pausing his campaign ahead of Canada's April 28 election to meet cabinet members working on US relations.

In his one phone call with Trump since taking over as prime minister on March 14, Carney and the president agreed Washington and Ottawa would discuss future trade relations after the election.

Carney on Friday confirmed those talks would begin within weeks.

He said he was working to ensure the next Canadian government "will be in the best possible position for negotiations with the United States, which, as the president and I have agreed, will begin from the start of May."

Carney added that Friday's meeting addressed reaction to the escalating global trade war, with China saying Friday would it raise its tariffs on US goods to 125 percent -- almost matching the staggering 145 percent level imposed on Chinese goods coming into America.

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Carney warned the trade conflict was leading to "tightening in financial conditions, the initial signs of slowing in the global economy" and negative impacts "in the Canadian labor market."

Canadian exports in the auto sector, steel, aluminum and select other goods are currently subject to US tariffs. Thousands of Canadian auto workers have had their hours cut.

Canada, America's largest trading partner, has retaliated with levies on select US products.

Current polls indicate Carney's Liberal Party is on track to win the upcoming election, but the outlook could shift in the campaign's final weeks.

The opposition Conservatives, led by Pierre Poilievre, insist voters will ultimately recoil at the prospect of a fourth consecutive Liberal government due to frustration with living costs that soared during former prime minister Justin Trudeau's decade in power.

Source: AFP