Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney Visits Europe to Forge a Unique Strategic Alliance Amid US Trade Tensions

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney arrives at the TIFF Tribute Awards at the Fairmont Royal York hotel during the Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday, September 13, 2026, in Toronto, ahead of his visit to Europe.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is visiting Europe this week as his country seeks a closer strategic alliance with the European Union amid its bitter trade war with the United States. At the same time, once-reliable transatlantic relations between Europe and Washington have been strained by US President Donald Trump’s threats of tariffs and his aggressive bid to acquire Greenland, as well as the fallout from the US-Israel war on Iran, which European countries have refused to join.

Carney is set to visit Strasbourg in France, and Liverpool in the United Kingdom between September 15 and September 17, according to an official statement. Here’s what we know about his European ambitions.

A family walks past a sign reading ‘Lake Ontario, Now and Always’, unveiled by Ontario Premier Doug Ford at Fifty Point Conservation Area near Grimsby, Ontario, Canada, on August 29, 2026, after US President Donald Trump ordered the lake renamed ‘Lake America’.

Carney has said Canada is seeking opportunities to diversify trade and investments, but has not revealed much else officially. In meetings with members of the European Parliament, the prime minister will seek to strengthen Canada’s ties with the EU in trade, investment, and security, a government statement announcing his visit read.

While some in Carney’s cabinet and in the EU have floated the idea that Canada might be seeking an associate EU membership, the prime minister has said that is not an option. "We’re not looking to become a member of the European Union," Carney said, speaking to reporters at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday. Rather, Canada is looking to start discussions on what he called a unique alliance.

A senior Canadian official, however, told The Associated Press news agency that the aim of the visit is to strengthen Canada’s sovereignty; thus, the country would not be willing to give up our rights to Brussels. Canada will, however, push for an arrangement that would allow Canadians to live and work in Europe without visas, and that investment would be at the core of the deeper partnership, the official added.

Canadian opposition leader Pierre Poilievre in an X statement on Sunday said the prime minister was out of touch.

Carney has emphasised Canada’s over-reliance on the US as a trading partner and the need to diversify amid the increasingly fraught trade war with the Trump administration, which has seen both sides impose tit-for-tat trade tariffs. Last month, Trump even renamed Lake Ontario – which lies along the US-Canada border – Lake America, in a fit of pique.

Closer ties with the EU could achieve this by generating significantly more trade with Brussels instead of the US, which currently imports more than 70 percent of all Canadian goods, worth more than $300bn a year. Canada’s trade with the EU is currently a distant second to the US and was worth 130 billion euros ($150bn) in 2025.

Experts say Canada and the EU are both looking for ways to strategically shield themselves from fallouts with the US. A deeper alliance appears part of a global trend of new powers and orders, analysts say, as Washington’s traditional allies find it much harder to rely on Trump. A 2017 EU-Canada trade agreement already eliminated duties on Canadian products entering the EU and vice versa, while yearly Canada-EU summits continue to strengthen bilateral cooperation.

Canada’s issues with the US began before Carney took office, when Trump unleashed his trade war on several countries, including Canada, at the start of his second term. More recently, a new wave of US tariffs erupted after trade talks between the US and Canada collapsed in August. Trump has since slapped 50 percent tariffs on $20bn-worth of Canadian goods imported into the US, prompting retaliatory measures from Ottawa.

Meanwhile, the US-EU relationship remains fraught following a 15 percent tariff hike on the bloc since 2025, European refusal to join the US-Israel war on Iran, and ongoing tensions surrounding Greenland. Recently, the EU signed a declaration with Greenland, announcing a 200 million-euro investment package to reinforce ties.