Canada Makes Bizarre US Trade Talk Demand: No More Memes

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney suggested Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s administration needs to “stop doing memes” and “throwing shade” towards America’s northern neighbor.

Carney also emphasized that a “positive opportunity” has “always existed with the U.S. for a mutually beneficial trade deal that respects Canadian sovereignty,” CNBC reported.

“When the Americans stop doing memes, stop throwing shade, stop trying to be tough and start being serious about having those discussions, we can have those discussions [about trade],” Carney said, according to the outlet. “But look, it’s not constructive, but that’s their democracy.”

The White House did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

The prime minister’s comments come just one day after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claimed during a Monday interview with CNBC that Carney has turned Canada’s trade discussions with the U.S. into “a political shouting match.”

“You know, look, I think this is very unfortunate that Prime Minister Carney has turned this into the — a political shouting match. I mean, we’re not at war with Canada,” Bessent told CNBC. “How are we going to be at war with Canada? They’re going to take their two set submarines from the Edmonton Mall and sic them on us. That, you know, he came to power on an anti-American, anti-Trump agenda. He was 20 points behind in the polls. And then he started this. And it’s unfortunate that he’s not doing what’s best for the Canadian people. He’s doing best, what is best for the Liberal Party, what’s best for Mark Carney.”

“And in the long run, the other Canadian people are going to see through that,” Bessent added. “And you know, I will say, that they were offered the best trade deal of any country on the globe. And he chose to walk away from it at the last minute.”

When asked during the CNBC interview about markets speculating whether the U.S. is currently in a “tit-for-tat trade war with Canada,” Bessent responded, “Well, I don’t think you can be in a tit-for-tat with someone who’s 13 times larger than you are.”

Bessent’s remarks come after a Canada-U.S. trade deal collapsed in August.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in an Aug. 22 statement posted to X that “despite the U.S. offer to Canada to receive the best treatment of any major exporter to our market, new demands and walk backs of other commitments by Canada have upended the careful balance reached in the past days.”

Carney announced on that day that his country plans to levy retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports beginning on Sept. 8, just hours after the Trump administration started implementing 50% tariffs on a spate of Canadian goods, NPR reported.

The president issued an Aug. 27 executive order to officially rename Lake Ontario as Lake America, claiming that the lake “will continue to play a pivotal role in shaping America’s future and the global economy.” Trump also posted an artificial intelligence-generated meme to Truth Social on Aug. 29 of Canada Geese with hairstyles reminiscent of his.

Carney made headlines back in January when he announced a “new world order” while referencing his partnership with China during his trip to Beijing.