MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Canada invites the UK to join its economic alliance with the European Union

“Why don't we team up?” the minister said, adding that “the world has changed. America has changed. So we need to change.”

Canada's Finance Minister, François-Philippe Champagne, has proposed that the United Kingdom join the economic alliance Ottawa is negotiating with the European Union, in comments to the BBC. “We are independent and sovereign, but we are stronger together,” he said. The British government has not publicly responded to the proposal.

“We need to look at partnership in a different way and the great thing is that when you look at Canada - and I would say the United Kingdom - we share the same values. We are very aligned in our vision of the world. Why don't we team up?” the minister said, adding that “the world has changed. America has changed. So we need to change.”

The remarks follow European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's proposal to “open the door” to Canada becoming the bloc's first associate member, a status not provided for in the EU treaties and whose details have yet to be formalised. Champagne described Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's trip to Strasbourg as an effort “to build the alliance of the future”. Carney, a former Bank of England governor, has previously floated an alliance of “middle powers” working together on economic growth, resilience and security.

Trump responded by threatening further tariffs on the European Union if the associate membership plan proved “hostile” to the United States. He called the idea laughable and described Canada as a “terrible trading partner”.

Canada has been in a trade war with the United States since talks collapsed at the last moment in August and both sides imposed tit-for-tat tariffs. Champagne said the conflict was not one his country chose: “We responded because at some stage you have to say 'enough is enough'. No one can infringe on our economic sovereignty.” He described Canada's response as “measured, targeted and strategic”, “dollar-for-dollar, tariff-for-tariff”, said Ottawa is not seeking escalation and would “re-engage at the right time” with Washington. He added that affected industries would be supported “as long as it takes” and that the dispute offers a “golden opportunity” to diversify markets.

The invitation places the United Kingdom in a delicate position: it renegotiated its own trade deal with the United States in June last year, and the Canadian initiative raises questions about its post-Brexit positioning towards Europe. Carney met British Prime Minister Andy Burnham in Liverpool during last week's European trip, and Champagne attended a meeting of EU finance ministers in Dublin on Friday alongside Chancellor John Healey. Burnham will meet Trump for the first time this week, at the UN General Assembly in New York.

Among the specific elements Carney has raised are Canadian participation in European university, scientific research, artificial intelligence and defence funding schemes, mobility for young people on both sides of the Atlantic to study and live, Canadian supply of critical minerals and gas, and access to European advanced technologies.

Both Ottawa and Brussels see the mechanism as potentially serving other like-minded countries that would never become full members, with Australia cited as an example.