Carney to visit Mexico next month as both countries navigate tense U.S. relations

Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to visit Mexico next month as the countries try to navigate trade relations with the United States.

Both Mexico and Canada have been subject to tariffs and tariff threats from U.S. President Donald Trump since he was re-elected last fall.

Trump upped tariffs on Canadian non-CUSMA-compliant goods to 35 per cent earlier this month, but exempted Mexico for now — prompting questions about the different approach to the two countries.

Canada attempted to reach some sort of agreement on tariffs by Aug. 1. But Dominic LeBlanc, the minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade, said a viable deal wasn’t on table by that deadline.

Trump gave Mexico a 90-day extension of its current tariff regime with the goal of signing a new deal during that period.

Carney’s visit to Mexico is scheduled to take place on Sept. 18. The trip was first reported by Bloomberg News.

Since his election, Carney has said he wants to expand relations with other countries to avoid being reliant on the U.S.

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand and Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said they were “kickstarting” a bilateral economic relationship with Mexico during a visit to the country’s capital last week.

While Canada and Mexico are partners in the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), they haven’t collaborated together as much as with their shared neighbour.

And the two countries haven’t always been in harmony during previous trade negotiations, at times prioritizing their relationship with the U.S.

“With Mexico, we are neighbours but we could get to know each other better,” Champagne told reporters during last week’s visit.

Anand said the two countries were also looking into “port-to-port lines of trade.”

On Thursday, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre criticized Carney and his government for not landing a deal with either the U.S. or Mexico, saying the prime minister has shown “weakness” on the international stage. 

“Mark Carney promised that he was an international man of mystery who was going to negotiate deals and end tariffs. Well, what’s the result been so far?” Poilievre said during a news conference.

The Conservative leader also pointed to China slapping tariffs on Canadian canola as another example of the Liberals floundering when it comes to trade.

“Countries smell weakness. Mark Carney has been failing,” he said.

CUSMA review on the horizon

Carney’s visit also comes as a CUSMA review is rapidly approaching. The trade deal — which was signed in 2018 and came into effect in 2020 — is up for review next year.

While CUSMA-compliant goods are exempt from Trump’s 35 per cent tariffs, the U.S. president has hit certain Canadian  goods — such as softwood lumber, steel, aluminum and some auto parts — with further import levies, whether they fall under the trade agreement’s umbrella or not.

Although the review isn’t scheduled until July 2026, there have been questions about the possibility of it starting early.

WATCH | What could come from the trade talks?

What could come from trade talks between Canada and Mexico?

With cabinet ministers meeting with Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum, Power & Politics hears from Juan Carlos Baker, former CUSMA trade negotiator and Mexico’s former vice minister of international trade about the relationship between the two countries.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford warned last week that Trump could choose to suddenly “pull the carpet out from underneath us” by opening up CUSMA as early as this fall.

“Let’s be prepared. I think it’ll be coming in November. He’s going to come at us with double barrels, so we better be ready and throw everything and the kitchen sink at this,” Ford told reporters last week.

LeBlanc has tried to temper concerns that the unpredictable president would trigger an early review. The minister said earlier this spring that he has “no reason to think” Trump would push up the timeline.