OTTAWA (Reuters) - Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Friday he would be in Washington next Tuesday for what he expects will be "difficult but constructive" talks with U.S. President Donald Trump, who he has accused of trying to break Canada.
Carney, fresh from a victorious election campaign focused on standing up to Trump, said the two neighbors need to create new security and defense ties.
"Our old relationship, based on steadily increasing integration, is over. The questions now are how our nations will cooperate in the future and where we in Canada will move on," he told a press conference.
Trump, who muses about annexing Canada, has imposed tariffs on some Canadian goods. Carney regularly termed the U.S. actions as a betrayal and says Canada must reduce its reliance on the United States, which takes 75% of all Canadian exports.
Carney said the focus of Tuesday's "comprehensive set of meetings" with Trump and senior officials would be on immediate trade pressures, such as the tariffs, and the long-term future.
"I go there with the expectation of difficult but constructive discussions. That's the spirit of the conversations that the president and I had," said Carney, who spoke to Trump on Tuesday and on March 28.
"I'm not pretending those discussions will be easy ... there will be zigs and zags, ups and downs," he said.
The meeting will be the first between the two men since Carney entered Canadian politics in January. Carney did not respond directly when asked whether the U.S. tariffs would have to be lifted for formal negotiations to start.
Carney, an ex-central banker, said his experience in crisis management meant he was the best person to tackle Trump. The Liberals, who had trailed badly in the polls as recently as January, rebounded to win Monday's election.
Asked whether Trump had spoken on Tuesday about Canada becoming the 51st state, Carney replied, "He did not."
Although the Liberals fell a few seats short of a majority in the elected House of Commons, Carney said he had a strong mandate and ruled out any kind of formal alliance with the smaller left-of-center New Democrats.
Carney said he would unveil his cabinet in the week starting May 12 and reveal the government's plans on May 27 in what is known as the speech from the throne. It will be delivered by King Charles, Canada's head of state.
(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Rod Nickel)
