KUALA LUMPUR – Prime Minister Mark Carney on Sunday offered a veiled critique of the Trump administration's trade policies, highlighting Canada's reliability and resilience without naming the United States or directly addressing the president.
“We value a rules-based system. We respect trade agreements and the rule of law. We value the free exchange of goods, capital and ideas,” Carney said at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations leaders' summit in Malaysia.
The comments appeared intended to stand in stark contrast to U.S. President Donald Trump, who late Saturday threatened to raise tariffs on Canada over anti-tariff television ads the Ontario government aired in U.S. markets.
Trump's statement came as he himself was heading to Malaysia.
“Their ad should have been removed IMMEDIATELY, but they allowed it to run last night during the World Series knowing it was a FRAUD,” Trump said on X.
The $75 million commercial, which features clips of former President Ronald Reagan talking about tariffs, angered Trump on Thursday when he cut off trade talks with Canada.
Heading into the foreign visit, Carney downplayed the idea that he and Trump were going to sign an agreement on industry tariffs but said he looked forward to meeting with the president.
It is now unclear whether the meeting will even take place this week. Both leaders are set to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in South Korea later this week.
On Sunday, Carney told ASEAN leaders that the emergence of “transactional bilateral trade” and a new era of great power competition are challenging the global institutions that middle powers such as Canada and Southeast Asian countries have relied on.
He said these changes highlight the need for trusted partners and said Canada is one of those partners.
Carney's five-minute speech at the summit came around the same time Trump arrived at the conference site in the capital Kuala Lumpur to attend the signing of a peace agreement between Thailand and Cambodia.
Canadian officials said Carney and Trump had not spoken since Thursday.
In his speech to ASEAN leaders, Carney highlighted his government's plans to double exports outside the United States in the next decade and quadruple defense spending in the next four years, with much of that spending going to cybersecurity and artificial intelligence.
Carney also noted Canada's recent trade agreement with Indonesia, the first with an ASEAN member, and promised that his government would move quickly to bilateral agreements with other interested countries.
He said Canada was committed to putting “every resource” into finalizing a trade deal with ASEAN as a whole by next year.
ASEAN leaders welcomed Timor-Leste as the bloc's 11th member on Sunday as the summit officially opened.
Carney met with the prime ministers of Laos and Vietnam and the president of the Philippines on the sidelines of an event before a fireside chat at the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 26, 2025.
