Bessent warns Carney against picking a fight before US-Canada-Mexico trade talks
January 28, 2026
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has a warning for Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney: Your comments against U.S. trade policy could backfire, especially at a time when the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement is facing a formal review. And that trade deal protects Canada from the heaviest impacts of President Donald Trump’s tariffs. Carney used a high-profile speech last week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland to condemn economic coercion by great powers on smaller countries. Since then he’s sparred with Trump and Bessent about related trade issues. And Trump has threatened to impose a 100% tariff on goods imported from Canada over a trade deal that Carney is pursuing with Beijing.