Prime Minister Mark Carney says he had several informal discussions with U.S. President Donald Trump in the course of the G7 summit in France, despite not having an official meeting.
In a Tuesday interview with CNN, Carney also said he had seen the preliminary agreement for a peace deal reached with Iran and that it “exceeded” his expectations.
On Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced an agreement to finish the war in Iran and that he had authorized an end to the U.S. blockade within the Strait of Hormuz. He later said the strait wouldn’t open until Friday when the deal is ready to be signed in Switzerland.
“I had seven or eight discussions with President Trump over the course of the last 36 hours,” Carney told reporters within the picturesque resort town of Évian-les-Bains within the French Alps.
He said they spoke in regards to the economy, artificial intelligence, Ukraine and the U.S.-Iran peace deal. Carney also said he got Trump a birthday present and that he “likes it quite a bit.”
Asked why no bilateral meeting took place, Carney said: “There’s no message in that.”
Carney said Canada will do what it could actually to assist put the deal in place.
“It creates a possibility of a game changer,” Carney told reporters Wednesday, adding there was a change in tone and possibilities in Lebanon and in Ukraine.
“The actual fact of it, and the undeniable fact that so many countries were involved in its development and are vested in its development, does create positive knock-on effects.”
Carney said there’s no Canadian money involved within the deal.
The summit comes as trade talks between Canada and the U.S. remain tense, with no clear decision on whether to increase the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement, or CUSMA.
Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc met with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on the sidelines of the G7.
Canada recently agreed to cut back its 100 per cent tariff on Chinese-made electric vehicles to six.1 per cent, with an annual import cap of 49,000 vehicles — about three per cent of Canada’s market. In turn, China suspended its retaliatory tariffs on Canadian agricultural products.
Trump previously criticized the deal, threatening latest tariffs and saying Canada wouldn’t be allowed to be a “drop-off port” for Chinese vehicles to enter the U.S.
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But on Tuesday, Carney was heard telling Trump about Canada’s plan. The president responded: “That’s good, I prefer it.”
Carney later told reporters they’d a followup conversation about it.
“We’re only concerned about Chinese investment in Canada when it’s material Canadian production,” Carney said. “We’re not concerned about kits being put together in Canada.
“We are going to only do what’s within the interest of Canadian consumers (and) Canadian employees.”
Carney also told reporters in the course of the final day of the summit Wednesday that the president only had scheduled bilateral meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
While Macron is the one G7 leader Trump has met with on the G7 to date, he has held bilateral meetings with the leaders of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
On Wednesday, he had meetings scheduled with the leaders of Egypt and India and met with the leaders of Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, India, Italy, South Korea and Germany on the summit
During his meeting with Modi, Carney said the countries are aiming to finish their trade agreement by the G20 summit later this yr.
Tuesday also included Canadian announcements of more sanctions on Russia and talks to buy military jets from Italy.
The summit was delayed by a day after Trump announced that the White House would host a UFC fight on June 14, which is Flag Day in the USA and was Trump’s eightieth birthday.
Over the course of the summit, G7 leaders issued six joint statements, making several pledges akin to reforming how developing countries access financing, collaborating more on cancer research and responding to Ebola.
There was also a commitment to stopping the smuggling of migrants and tackling drug trafficking.
In an announcement on geopolitical issues, the leaders said they stood united of their support for Ukraine and the peace deal between the U.S. and Iran.
The document said the leaders recognize “the breakthrough and the chance” within the Middle East and that they support and are able to contribute to the implementation of the peace deal between the U.S. and Iran. It also said they committed to speed up the diversification of energy supply routes to cut back global vulnerability to the Strait of Hormuz and to extend our energy stocks.
“We welcome the potential for Canada to deliver significant additional capability to global markets in coming years,” said the document.
On Wednesday, Carney said there’s diversification inside that region so not all energy is coming out through the strait, but not enough.
“There’s intention to construct out a series of energy infrastructure there. Canada has the flexibility to do several things, and we’re on the trail to do several things,” he said, noting liquefied natural gas and the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline, which he said will go ahead.
In one other document, the leaders said they stand united of their “unwavering” support for Ukraine in defending its freedom, sovereignty and territorial integrity. They said they agreed to extend defence supports and consider extending licences to permit for a rise in Ukraine’s military production.
The leaders also said they’d strengthen their sanctions on Russia, including those on the oil and gas sectors.
Before returning to Canada, Carney is collaborating in a G7 working session on economic growth and can attend a luncheon with AI corporations.
Earlier this month, the Liberal government introduced a web-based harms bill that features a plan to force social media corporations to ban kids under 16 from their platforms. Bill C-34 would also regulate AI chatbots.
International support for age restrictions on social media has been mounting since Australia became the primary country to introduce a ban, with countries including Malaysia, Brazil, Indonesia, Britain, France, the U.K., Spain, Denmark, Thailand and South Korea introducing or considering similar measures.