‘Stop Doing Memes’: Canada’s Carney Tells Trump Admin To ‘Start Being Serious’ Amid Tariff War

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney issued a sharp rebuke of the Trump administration and told American officials to “start being serious” as Canada and the US escalate their trade war.

Carney told The Guardian that Canada had been insulted by US officials. “It is beneath their office. 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, he was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, meanwhile, sought to downplay the repercussions of the escalating trade dispute, arguing that the situation was more of an emergency for Canada than the US and that Ottawa was more vulnerable following

the collapse of negotiations.

“There are no negotiations happening on trade right now,” Greer told Politico, just over a week after US-Canada trade talks broke down. The US has imposed 50% tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods.

Canada, the US’s second-largest trading partner, has announced retaliatory tariffs on $20 billion worth of American goods starting September 8.

The Guardian reported that Americans are set to feel “extreme pressure” from Trump’s tariffs and Canada’s retaliatory measures, including on everyday items.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent meanwhile joked about Canada’s military might when asked in a televised interview about the broiling trade dispute.

“I don’t think you can be in a tit-for-tat with someone who’s 13 times larger than you are,” Bessent told CNBC.

“I mean, we’re not at war with Canada. How are we going to be at war with Canada? What, are they going to take their two submarines from the Edmonton Mall and sic them on us?”

He was referring to a former attraction at a shopping center in Alberta province.

The remarks are “beneath their office,” Carney told reporters on Tuesday, adding “it’s not constructive, but that’s their democracy.”