The old British wartime maxim “keep calm and carry on” was given a new twist Sunday at the opening of ASEAN Summit as Prime Minister Mark Carney addressed South Asian leaders about the importance of “reliable partners who honour their commitments.”
The remarks were delivered against a backdrop of rising rhetoric and tariff threats by U.S. President Donald Trump, who promised to impose a further 10 per cent duty on Canadian goods in retaliation for Ontario government television ads that quote former president Ronald Reagan criticism of tariffs.
Carney has not responded directly to the latest broadside by the US president. It was left to Dominic Leblanc, the minister of US-Canada Trade, to answer with a social media post late Saturday that reiterated the prime minister’s position that Canada will carry on and be ready whenever the US wants to resume trade negotiations.
Carney’s address in Malaysia early Sunday was part pitch for freer trade with the ASEAN block of nations and part veiled reference to the worsening relations with the United States.
“We have all been reminded of the importance of reliable partners — who honour their commitments, who are there in tough times, and who engage collaboratively to fix something that isn’t working,” Carney told the leaders of the 11 nations gathered around the table in the Malaysian capital.
“Canada is such a partner, a dependable partner, and I have come to Kuala Lumpur to say clearly that we want to play a bigger role in this region.”
The Liberal government is pushing ahead with free trade negotiations at ASEAN, hoping to conclude a deal next year.
“Like ASEAN, Canada values the rules-based system. We respect trade agreements and the rule of law,” Carney said in remarks that could also be interpreted as being directed at Trump. “We believe in the value of the free exchange of goods, capital, and ideas.”
He added that the world is now undergoing a fundamental shift — more a rupture than a transition.
“Multilateral trade liberalisation is giving way to transactional, and managed bilateral trade and Investment,” the prime minister said.
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There was some hope that Carney and Trump would meet on the sidelines of the summit to iron out the feud over the ads, which aired during the World Series, but the president has said he’s not interested in talking.
In a speech at the onset of the summit, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim delivered an overall message that almost felt like it was directed at the current Canada and the U.S. dispute.
“Across regions, we see rising contestation of growing uncertainty,” Ibrahim said.
“These crosswinds test not only our economics, but our collective resolve to keep faith in cooperation, to believe that understanding and dialog can still prevail.”
Trump was given a rousing, flag-waving greeting when he arrived in Kuala Lumpur early Sunday, where he oversaw the signing of a peace deal between Thailand and Cambodia, which his administration helped broker last summer.
Trump said it took “a lot of phone calls” to get the unconditional ceasefire in the border war.
He said he is very good at getting peace deals done, and argued he’s better at it than the United Nations.
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