Carney says Trump’s office reached out to schedule a call as trade war continues

Liberal Leader Mark Carney is set to have his first phone conversation with United States President Donald Trump in the coming days, and Trump’s commerce secretary said Canada may get some reprieve from automobile tariffs.

Carney said Thursday that the president’s office reached out the previous evening to schedule a call. It would be the first conversation between the two leaders since Carney was sworn in as prime minister earlier this month as Trump pursued his trade war and repeatedly called for Canada’s annexation.

“I appreciate this opportunity to discuss how we can protect our workers and build our economies,” Carney said from Parliament Hill. “I will make clear to the president that those interests are best served by co-operation and mutual respect, including of our sovereignty.”

The call, which Carney said will take place within days, comes after Trump signed an executive order Wednesday to implement 25 per cent levies on all automobile and auto part imports — his latest move to upend global trade through a massive tariff agenda that pushed some automakers’ stock prices down on Thursday.

But Canadian cars may not be hit as hard as others. Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Thursday that U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told him in a phone call Wednesday night that Canadian-made vehicles with 50 per cent or more American parts will not face the tariffs.

Ford said it was a productive conversation and Lutnick “knows how integrated the auto trade is” between the two countries — but the provincial government still doesn’t know when Canadian vehicle production might see the tariff break.

“A lot of the automobiles that are manufactured here in Ontario have 50, 60 per cent parts from the U.S.,” Ford said.

Ford said