Canada alliance plan ‘not against anyone’, EU says after Trump threat

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FILE PHOTO: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks during a joint news conference with Sweden’s Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson in Stockholm, Sweden, April 7, 2022. TT News Agency/Fredrik Sandberg via REUTERS

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EU chief Ursula von der Leyen’s proposal to make Canada an “associate member” of the bloc is not aimed against the United States, the European Commission said Thursday after President Donald Trump threatened trade ties over the plan.

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Trump called von der Leyen’s unprecedented overture towards Ottawa “laughable” on Wednesday, telling reporters he could impose “very serious tariffs” or “stop trading with Europe” should the plan go ahead.

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“As our president made clear yesterday, the proposed strengthening of our partnership with Canada is not against anyone else, but for our common strength,” the commission’s trade spokesperson Olof Gill said when asked about Trump’s remarks.

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Von der Leyen floated the idea of “associated” membership for Canada as she gave a major speech before the European Parliament in Strasbourg with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in attendance.

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Carney, who has been pursuing closer ties with the European Union as Ottawa gets drawn ever deeper into a trade war with the United States, will give his own address to EU lawmakers Thursday morning.

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His visit is meant to act as a catalyst ahead of an EU-Canada summit in Montreal next month.

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Von der Leyen pitched closer cooperation in areas ranging from critical minerals to AI.

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“I would like to work with you on opening the door for Canada to be the first associate member of the EU,” she told the Canadian premier, drawing a standing ovation in the chamber.

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“We will work on intelligent manufacturing. We will create a tech alliance. We will integrate defence industrial bases. We will make the Arctic a flagship joint project,” she said.

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– ‘Heavy’ tariffs threat –

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It was not immediately clear what the proposal could mean in practice, as EU treaties do not envision the possibility of “associate members”.

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The idea of creating a new status short of full membership was however first floated by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz this year for Ukraine.

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“I think it’s laughable,” Trump told reporters when asked about the plan.

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“If they do that, if I think it’s at all a hostile act, I will put very serious tariffs or stop trading with Europe, on many things,” he added.

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“If it’s a good intention, that’s fine. If it’s a bad intention, we’ll put very heavy tariffs on Europe, which is a possibility.”

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Under EU rules, member states have to approve any form of partnership with a third country, and it was unclear how much support von der Leyen’s proposal would receive from capitals.

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French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said that Paris was in favour of “creating ever-closer ties with Canada” but that the plan would be “debated, scrutinised and analysed” before France took a definitive position.

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Brussels and Ottawa, both of which have been buffeted by tariffs and territorial threats from the US and competition from China, already enjoy a considerable level of cooperation.

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The CETA free-trade agreement that abolished almost all tariffs has been credited with boosting trade in goods and services by more than 80 percent since 2016.

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And this year Canada became the first non-EU country to join a flagship defence loan programme.

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