Carney in Washington for 1st meeting with Trump to discuss tariffs, Canada-U.S. relations

I’m David Michael Lamb with the CBC’s fact-checking team, a challenging assignment when it comes to the U.S. president.

Over the past few months, tariffs have been applied, delayed, cancelled and threatened. Here’s where Canada stands at the moment.

In early April, the U.S. imposed 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian-made cars, levied on the value of all non-U.S. content in them (this tariff also applies to all non-U.S. car imports). That tariff is still in place.

A few days ago, a similar 25 per cent tariff was to come into force on all car parts. But on May 1, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said parts that comply with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) would be exempt — so that tariff now has a significant carve out for Canada.

Steel and aluminum tariffs of 25 per cent that were applied in March are still in effect.

And Canadian goods that are not CUSMA compliant also have a 25 per cent tariff, with some exceptions. Energy products in CUSMA have a 10 per cent tariff. And potash that is not covered by CUSMA has a 10 per cent tariff.

Yes, it’s confusing.

I’m a reporter with the CBC’s Parliamentary Bureau. James Blanchard, the former U.S. ambassador to Canada, said this morning that Trump’s taunts are “cheap theatre.”

“It’s the insults, frankly, more than any trade friction, that have led to deterioration of relationships,” Blanchard told CBC News’s Paul Hunter.

Blanchard was the ambassador from 1993-96 under former U.S. president Bill Clinton.

Emphasizing the importance of allies in the interests of national security, Blanchard said America needs to have a partnership with Canada. He noted the U.S. has maintained a number of trade surpluses with Canada.

“The only trade deficit we have is energy and we want that energy,” Blanchard said. “This is a very healthy, successful trade relationship and the fact that the people around Mr. Trump have magnified that as a problem is really not wise. It's not fair.”

Here’s how we’re expecting today will play out, with the caveat that sometimes leaders’ meetings go long and then the schedules can change:

11:30 a.m. ET: Carney will arrive at the White House.

11:45 a.m.: The prime minister will meet with Trump in the Oval Office. There will be a photo op of the two, known as a “pool spray.” Trump is known to bite when journalists yell questions, so we could hear some comments before reporters are ushered out.

12:15 p.m.: Carney will attend an official luncheon given by the president; this will be closed to the media.

3 p.m.: The prime minister will hold a media availability at the Embassy of Canada to the United States.

I’m Cat Tunney, a senior reporter with the Parliamentary Bureau. This morning, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre wished Carney well ahead of his meeting with Trump.

“We want to wish Prime Minister Carney a positive meeting. We hope that the president will honour our sovereignty and signal an end to these tariffs,” Poilievre said.

“We think that there should be a deal as soon as possible to end the chaos.”

Poilievre made the comments on his way into the Conservatives’ first caucus meeting since losing last week's election. Poilievre failed to secure the seat he represented for two decades.

A number of high-profile Conservative MPs have expressed their support for Poilievre to stay on as leader but they will need to find an elected MP to serve as Opposition leader in the House of Commons until Poilievre can run, and win, in a byelection.

The Trump administration is sending mixed messages about Canada ahead of this meeting: Trump said Carney is a "nice gentleman" and he's willing to negotiate with him.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, meanwhile, unloaded on Canada during a TV appearance just moments after we touched down in D.C. yesterday, saying the country is a "socialist regime" and it's been ripping off the U.S. for decades.

Good morning from Washington, D.C. I'm J.P. Tasker, a reporter travelling with Carney for the high-stakes White House meeting today. This is a face-to-face that comes as bilateral relations are at their lowest point in decades and with a trade war raging.

Carney is setting the bar low — saying Canadians shouldn't expect to see any "white smoke," a nod to what will happen when a Pope is chosen in Rome, after this Oval Office sit-down.

Trump said yesterday he doesn't know why Carney is coming, a statement that seems hard to believe given what's been going on between the two countries. "I guess he wants to make a deal. Everybody does," he said.

Carney has some policy goals: discussing Trump's three-pronged approach to tariffs (the original "fentanyl" tariffs, the Section 232 tariffs on steel, aluminum and autos and so-called "reciprocal" tariffs that haven't been applied to Canada); and starting the process of renegotiating a new comprehensive economic and security relationship, now that Carney says the last one is "over" after the president's broadsides.

Beyond that, Carney is surely looking to avoid an Oval Office ambush like the one Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy endured earlier this year. Experts we spoke to say the prime minister was likely well briefed on what to do if the meeting starts to go off the rails.

In an interview that aired on NBC Sunday, Trump again said he wants Canada to be part of the United States and that he'd "always talk about that."

"You don't even realize what a beautiful country it would be. It would be great," Trump told host Kristen Welker.

The U.S. president's renewed threats came as Carney prepared to meet him today for a comprehensive set of discussions on tariffs and the broader Canada-U.S. relationship.

"I'll always talk about that. You know why? We subsidize Canada to the tune of $200 billion a year," Trump added, reiterating his false claim over the U.S. trade deficit with Canada.

The U.S. president also noted Carney's minority government will "make things a little bit difficult for him to run. But he nevertheless had a victory and he's a nice man, I'd think."

Hello, I'm Verity, and I'll be curating your live updates today. Prime Minister Mark Carney is in Washington, D.C., this morning to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump.

Carney made negotiations with Trump a cornerstone of his campaign, but the meeting is happening just over a week after the former central banker was elected last Monday.

Carney had maintained he would only speak with Trump once the U.S. president shows respect for Canada. He also argued he would be the best person to shepherd Canada through a trade war with the U.S. amid Trump's threats of annexation.

"It's important to get engaged immediately, which has always been my intention, which has always been [Trump's] intention," Carney told reporters in Ottawa Friday during his first news conference since his election.