DUBLIN (AP) 鈥� Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney continued his efforts to pivot away from the United States and allign with Europe, meeting with the leader of Ireland on Saturday ahead of the upcoming G7 summit and saying middle power countries shouldn鈥檛 compete for favor with America.
Carney said that Canada and the European Union have a combined population that is more than twice that of the United States, with a similarly sized economy and a collective defense budget that is twice that of China鈥檚.
He said smaller nations can multiply their strength by partnering with like-minded allies.
鈥淚n a world of great power rivalry, middle powers have a choice 鈥� to compete for favor or to combine to create a third path with impact,鈥� Carney said at Trinity College in Dublin.
He made similar in Davos, Switzerland, which became a symbol of middle-power resistance in January, when he and condemned coercion by great powers on smaller countries.
Carney visited Ireland’s Taoiseach Miche谩l Martin earlier on Saturday and French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday ahead of the that begins on Monday in France.
U.S. President Donald Trump leaves for the G7 summit right after he hosts UFC fights at the White House on Sunday for his 80th birthday.
Trump is not currently scheduled to hold bilateral talks with Carney during the summit, according to a senior U.S. administration official.
Carney described Canada and Europe as a 鈥漟orce for good 鈥� because we safeguard the values of human rights, dignity, and pluralism that our people hold dear.鈥�
The prime minister said together, the EU and Canada are one of the largest economic, cultural, technological, financial, and military blocs in the world.
鈥淭he new world order will be built starting with Europe,鈥� Carney said at an earlier joint news conference with Martin. 鈥淐anada is the most European of non-European countries. We are transforming our cooperation with Europe.鈥�
In February, Canada became the first non-European member of the SAFE mechanism, the European Union鈥檚 defense procurement initiative. Carney, on this ninth trip to Europe since become prime minister 15 months ago, noted Canada 56 partnerships in the critical minerals sector across more than 10 countries, primarily in Europe.
Carney made his comments despite saying that the U.S. isn鈥檛 interested in big changes to free trade agreement with the Canada and Mexico.
鈥淭he U.S. has been clear. They don鈥檛 want to change the fundamental architecture,鈥� Carney said.
There is a scheduled July 1 review of the (USMCA) the latest iteration of the North American free-trade pact that has intertwined the economies of the three countries since the early 1990s. Trump said this week that he may not renew the deal.
But Carney emphasized that the Trump administration has allowed about 85% of Canadian trade to the U.S. to be tariff free because it is covered under USMCA.
Carney said that to fundamentally change the agreement the White House would have to go to Congress, adding that the White House doesn鈥檛 want to do that.
Trade tensions continue to simmer between the North American neighbors.
The U.S. official, who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity on ground rules set by the White House, said the U.S. has had outreach from Canada to set up further discussions on trade with the U.S. administration.
The Trump administration views a recent move by the Canadian government to roll back a regulatory decision that required foreign streaming platforms to allocate a portion of their Canadian revenues to fund local news and programming as positive decisions, the official added.
But, the official added, 鈥渘o major breakthroughs鈥� with Canada are expected during the summit.
Trump said again this week that the U.S. doesn鈥檛 need anything that Canada has. Carney has set a goal for Canada to double its non-U. S. exports in the next decade, saying Trump鈥檚 trade war is causing a chill in investment.
“Prime Minister Carney has spoken with great clarity and conviction about Canada鈥檚 desire to deepen its engagement with Europe. Ireland warmly and unreservedly welcomes that ambition, and we will do what we can to strengthen relations between the European union and Canada during our forthcoming presidency,” Martin said.
Ireland will be holding the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union starting in July.
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
