Skip to Content Subscribe My Account Manage My Subscriptions FAQ Newsletters Canada Canadian True Crime Canadian Politics Health World Israel & Middle East Financial Post NP Comment Longreads Puzzmo Diversions Comics NP News Quiz New York Times Crossword Horoscopes Modern Life Eating & Drinking Style Sponsored Play for Ontario Travel Travel Canada Travel USA Travel International Cruises Travel Essentials Culture Books Celebrity Movies Music Theatre Television Business Essentials Advice Lives Told Tails Told Shopping Buy Canadian Home Living Outdoor Living Kitchen & Dining Tech Style & Beauty Personal Care Entertainment & Hobbies Gift Guide Travel Guide Deals Savings National Post Store More Sports Hockey Baseball Basketball Football Soccer Golf Tennis Driving Vehicle Research Reviews News Gear Guide Obituaries Place an Obituary Place an In Memoriam Classifieds Place an Ad Celebrations Working Business Ads Archives Healthing Epaper Manage Print Subscription Profile Settings My Subscriptions My Offers Newsletters Customer Service FAQ Newsletters Canada World Financial Post NP Comment Longreads Puzzmo Diversions Modern Life Shopping Epaper Manage Print Subscription HomeNP CommentTasha Kheiriddin: Mark Carney must wake up to fact China is no friendThe government should remember that the American relationship has had more high points than low pointsLast updated 18 hours ago Prime Minister Mark Carney takes his seat after arriving at the First Ministers meeting in Charlottetown, P.E.I., Thursday July 23, 2026. Photo by Tim Krochak/PostmediaIt’s official: Canada’s counter tariffs kicked in at 12 a.m. Tuesday, slamming an eclectic list of goods that includes dairy products, cosmetics, haircare, softwood, steel rods and window frames. All will cost between 25 and 50 per cent more, in response to U.S. tariffs that show no sign of going away any time soon. To the contrary, U.S. President Donald Trump is just getting started, sending a stream of over 60 posts on Truth Social Monday in which he threatened to ban aerospace giant Bombardier from selling aircraft in the U.S.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorAs he has done with other major developments in the trade war, Prime Minister Mark Carney delivered a national address on his YouTube channel, Forward Guidance. It was posted Tuesday morning, and since most Canadians will not devote 15 minutes to watching it, I did. And it delivered several important clues about the government’s strategy going forward.The National Post newsletter that doesn’t hold back, giving readers the unvarnished truth on media, politics and culture.By signing up, you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of Right? will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againThe first is that Ottawa will continue to frame the Canada-U.S. relationship as adversarial. Carney cited John A. Macdonald’s building of the railway as a response to “American aggression” and talked of U.S. president William McKinley imposing 50 per cent tariffs on Canadians exports in 1890. In other words, we are just following in our ancestors’ footsteps, legitimizing the narrative that today’s trade war is part of a continuum, not a Trumpian blip.The second is that the government will continue to push diversification to reduce trade dependence on the U.S. market. Here, Carney highlighted two sets of relationships: Europe and China. He chose to give a detailed example of a western farm whose owners now get higher prices on their canola, thanks to Ottawa’s deal last year with Beijing to lower tariffs on agricultural products in exchange for Canada cutting tariffs on Chinese EVs. What Carney didn’t mention was that the deal set off alarm bells both here and in Washington, which takes a dim view of any increased coziness between Canada and the Middle Kingdom.The third reveal was on energy. Carney talked about diversifying Canadian exports toward Asian markets and said, and I quote, “we’re going to build a new pipeline connecting Alberta’s resources to Pacific ports.” That will be sweet music to western petroleum producers, but there’s one small hitch: the pipeline has not yet been approved by the Major Projects Office and it’s facing serious opposition from a slew of First Nations. Yet Carney talked of it as a fait accompli.Put the pieces together and Carney’s “forward guidance” is clear: a long-term, permanent economic decoupling from America, accompanied by an embrace of other nations, some of whom represent a worse threat to Canadian sovereignty than the current U.S. administration, namely, China.China gains when western alliances fray. It gains when Canada sells more commodities into its markets. It gains when Ottawa feels it has fewer reasons to defer to Washington. And it certainly gains when military-to-military contacts between Ottawa and Beijing, frozen after years of bitter relations, resume — as they did last week.On Sept. 4, Canadian and Chinese defence officials held their first formal Defence Coordination Dialogue in more than eight years — a fact glowingly reported by the Chinese press, but curiously absent from any announcements from Ottawa. Instead, when pressed, a defence official downplayed the meeting as a “routine dialogue” to exchange views on regional and global security matters.Carney is right that Canada needs alternatives to American dependence. But we must resist the temptation to confuse diversification with friendship. China remains an authoritarian state whose interests conflict directly with ours. Ottawa continues to cite concerns about Beijing’s military pressure around Taiwan, its ambitions in the Arctic and its conduct in the South China Sea. In contrast, the U.S. may not be very friendly today but it has been in the past. Carney would do better to remind Canadians of the high points of our relationship, rather than the lows.Tasha Kheiriddin is Postmedia’s national politics columnist. Join the Conversation This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.