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
ByFATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press
January 28, 2026, 3: 36 PM
WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday warned Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney that his recent public comments against U.S. trade policy could backfire going into the formal review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the trade deal that 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 and since then he has as since sparred with Trump and Bessent about related trade issues. Trump on Saturday threatened to impose a 100% tariff on goods imported from Canada over a trade deal Carney is pursuing with Beijing.
“I would not pick a fight going into USMCA to score some cheap political points — either you’re working for your own political career or you’re working for the Canadian people,” Bessent said during a C