00:04:47.060A few months ago, Prime Minister Carney went to Beijing and he said at a high-level meeting that Canada was committing to a new world order.
00:04:58.900and he talked about the strategic importance of China, who he had earlier called a strategic
00:05:05.560threat. Here's a quick clip of that key moment. Take a look. I believe the progress that we have
00:05:12.080made in the partnership sets us up well for the new world order. A Chinese propaganda newspaper
00:05:22.860called Global Times, published an op-ed on Prime Minister Carney's decision to walk away from the
00:05:30.420trade negotiations. It called Canada a former close ally, and it said that Carney was doing
00:05:37.380a Chinese-style pushback. China's obviously delighted by this. Do you think that that
00:05:45.980pro-China ideology has anything to do with Canada rejecting the U.S. agreement and looking to deepen
00:05:53.420economic ties to China? That's really something for the Prime Minister to address. That is not
00:06:00.620our concern. We're trying to reach a trade agreement, or we were trying to reach a trade
00:06:04.940agreement with Canada, put the best offer on the table that we'd given to anybody, which kind of
00:06:11.440It tells you where the United States sees this relationship moving forward.
00:06:18.140Obviously, we were disappointed by what came out of the Friday afternoon, Friday night.
00:06:25.300We were disappointed by what happened over the weekend.
00:06:28.520But, you know, we stand or we stood ready to move forward to have a good relationship with Canada.
00:06:37.200I think we believe that that's where Canada was.
00:06:40.780But we'll just have to wait and see in terms of where this ends up or whether this is the end.
00:06:47.280One of the things that critics of the prime minister have noted is that he speaks with some vagueness about the actual reasons for breaking off negotiations.
00:06:57.620Let me play for you a quick clip where he talks about a threat, he claims, to Quebec and French-Canadian culture.
00:07:09.200And then I'd like your reaction to it. Take a quick look.
00:07:12.340This was not our choice. We were there.
00:07:15.900We were ready and close to having a comprehensive agreement that would be fair to both countries.
00:07:24.800We were close to that happening, and it seemed that we were close to reaching a comprehensive
00:07:36.100and fair agreement with the United States.
00:07:40.320But they made changes, including threats on the French language and Quebec culture and
00:07:53.940Ambassador Greer was asked about this on US TV. He said he didn't understand it at all and that he thought the prime minister was mischaracterizing a concern about a 5% tax on Netflix that would then be spent on some Canadian content. So it almost was like he was startled by the accusation. Can you give us some clarity? Do you know what Mark Carney was talking about there?
00:08:20.800I do not. The president has come out and talked about this and said, you know, why would we try to do this? It's exactly what the United States of America stands for, that countries negotiate what is in their best interest.
00:08:35.900I've also talked to the folks that who work with Ambassador Greer and they're saying no.
00:08:43.020And I saw a preliminary agreement where this was all dealt with.
00:08:46.860And, you know, we the president has indicated we we value the president loves Quebec.
00:08:54.080Jameson Greer, he speaks French. His kids speak French.
00:08:57.740I think one of his kids was actually born there.
00:09:02.320We did a tour with one of the local guides there.
00:09:06.400He very much explained to us in terms of the value of, you know, the French language, the French culture in Quebec and how important it was to them to maintain that.
00:09:22.440And so, you know, I know I can't explain it.
00:09:26.680This is something that, you know, that was never on our agenda, never on our radar screen.
00:09:34.720What was on our radar screen was you're not going to tax American companies to maintain that, you know, unique feature of Quebec into, you know, into the lore and the history and the culture of who Canada is.
00:10:32.420He was talking about a provision that, well, I think it already exists in the USMCA, Article 3210, that gives each of the countries the right to veto another trade deal with a non-market economy.
00:10:51.380So the three countries under Article 3210 all agree that if, let's say, there was a trade deal with China, the others could object.
00:11:29.280And this is what is unfortunate about the situation we're in. We're here for the right
00:11:35.980reason, but it's unfortunate. Canada and America and our G7 partners, we think about a lot of
00:11:43.720issues the same way. We're concerned about excess capacity in non-market economies. We care deeply
00:11:50.440about forced labor, child labor. And I'll take that second example where absolutely, do we want
00:11:57.260to cooperate? Do we want to share information? We want to align our approaches and our
00:12:01.180implementation of those approaches. And was that potentially part of this deal? Absolutely.
00:12:06.420There's a host of other things where absolutely we want to work together. But when it moves into
00:12:14.520restrictions and using Canada effectively as more leverage for America, that, I mean, clearly,
00:12:23.400That's Canadians wouldn't accept that. We're a proud, independent country. We've got the right values. We'll make our decisions about who we want to trade with and how and and including on how we work with the United States and other partners.
00:12:40.840so that sounds and again it's vague and it's he's not being very precise it sounds like he objects
00:12:47.940to article 3210 which has been in there i think for for years but he's he's positing that as a
00:12:56.020reason he walked away am i misunderstood i'm trying to understand why did he really quit
00:13:01.120because the last two examples i put to you don't seem to add up do you have anything to add to
00:13:06.400clarify? No, I mean, I think that is for the Canadian side to clarify to the Canadian people.
00:13:15.240If there's a clarification, that's necessary. We know exactly where we stand on this. No,
00:13:21.720we don't tell a country which countries they can develop a trade agreement with. We don't tell
00:13:28.960them, you know, outside of what is already in the KUSMA agreement, you know, in terms of what
00:13:38.400influence that we will have over that. What we do know is that, you know, we provided Canada with
00:13:49.080the best deal in the world. And for whatever reason it was, and, you know, we're kind of
00:13:56.980going through some of this as well. But for whatever reason it was that they walked away,
00:14:03.560it's not because of, it may be because of French language, but it's kind of like we didn't,
00:14:08.860we're not asking for anything more in French language. We're not asking for anything more
00:14:14.500in terms of a free country, a sovereign country moving back in agreements. What we will say on
00:14:24.840those types of things is that if you have a decide to create a sovereign agreement between
00:14:35.420Canada and a country that is not a free market type of country that may affect the ability
00:14:48.280or the tariff rate that Canada may receive.
00:14:53.520If you go into a country that you decide to say,
00:14:57.500well, XYZ products, those come into Canada with no tariffs
00:16:27.840OK, this was talked about way back in October that the Canadian U.S. relationship, you know, one of the strong features was that you have oil.
00:18:26.180because some Canadians are skeptical of what the prime minister said,
00:18:30.300especially since when he described the Gordie Howe bridge negotiation.
00:18:35.100I think it's pretty much agreed that he fib about it
00:18:39.900because he wanted a different public appearance than what really happened.
00:18:44.680Is there any way you can resolve this dispute
00:18:47.920by releasing some facts about those final terms?
00:18:51.800uh no i'm not i'm not in a position to do that i don't think jameson will be doing that i don't
00:18:58.440think the president will be doing that uh the bottom line is we think that we've got a we put
00:19:05.760a very very fair and generous offer on the table to canada uh you know if canada wants to review
00:19:13.260that and perhaps come back and you know discuss that and how we move forward and you know have
00:19:19.820a different outcome than what we have right now. The U.S. is more than open and willing to do that,
00:19:26.240as you identify. You know, Jameson has moved on to other things, other important things
00:19:34.000that he's got on his calendar. And so, you know, we thought we presented a very fair and a very
00:19:45.460generous offer to Canada. And, you know, maybe at some point in the future, we will come back
00:19:51.400and we'll be talking about those types of things. But, you know, right now, that's not the case.
00:19:58.320And, you know, we've got a lot of work in front of us, okay? We're not going back on this to try
00:20:07.100to win an argument with Canada about who derailed these negotiations. We're confident in terms of
00:20:13.560where we are, what we believe that we propose to the Canadians, and we are moving, you know,
00:20:20.900we're moving on. But to go back and re-litigate that is not something that is very helpful,
00:20:27.020assuming that at some point in time we may be back at the table together with many of the same
00:20:32.200people. I'll stop talking about those final moments, and I take your answer and I understand
00:20:37.340it. I want to talk about something that you said to me the very first time we met when I interviewed
00:20:41.980the ambassador's office and i think that a lot of uh people would would see a posting in ottawa
00:20:49.340as a kind of plum position i mean it's it's beautiful it's safe it's not like you're in
00:20:54.940iraq or something and it's a and the the thing that struck me and you know canada well you're
00:21:01.020a former congressman from from michigan which is very integrated with canada the thing that struck
00:21:05.500me about our conversation was how surprised you seemed by the anti-Americanism you encountered,
00:21:12.500including in the media. And if I may, I think you came across as you were almost a little hurt
00:21:16.880by the anger. And since that time, it's just gone up by the power of 10 in the media,
00:21:25.480but also by our political leaders. I want to play for you a clip here of the Premier of Ontario,
00:21:32.180the largest province, and I'm just going to play about 30 seconds of it, because this is the state
00:21:38.240of our political rhetoric in 2026. I know you won't like this, but I'd like your reaction
00:21:44.420to this. Take a look. I don't respond to a dictator like President Trump, a bully like
00:21:49.920President Trump. He's the type of guy in school that would take your lunch money one day,
00:21:54.680take your toque off your head the next day, and then steal your running shoes. I'm not going to
00:21:58.860take any advice off a guy that's the king of bankruptcies you know your own people president
00:22:04.160trump don't even like you and they're going to speak loud and clear when it comes to the midterms
00:22:09.120and if i was allowed to i'd be down there door knocking i've dealt with guys like you my whole
00:22:13.980life and guess what you all become losers because you're a loser i have more courage more brains in
00:22:19.540my baby toe than he has in his whole body i've been in this game a lot longer than he has i got
00:22:24.000skin on me like an alligator and you think an insult from him hurts me well bring it on buddy
00:22:29.620i'm ready bring it on i have a lot of real estate on my ass you know i i'll stop it there it goes on
00:22:36.700um i saw i see that and by the way that that's every day and and the premier manitoba is even
00:22:42.680worse far worse and that explains to me i think why there's an enormous antipathy
00:22:47.620President Trump is known for some sharp nicknames and insults, too, by the way.
00:22:53.720But I've never seen that kind of rhetoric from someone who allegedly wants to save jobs in a deal with our best customer.
00:23:04.020Now, contrast that to Alberta and Saskatchewan who have not engaged in this kind of rhetoric and who have said, look, we regret the falling apart.
00:23:11.620Let's get back on track. I don't know what's happening.
00:23:14.340I have my views on it, but I'm a bit partisan.
00:27:33.820I want to make sure that I get a good deal for American workers, you know, and this is, I mean, I can go through and, you know, I hear all the clamor about, you know, we're going to try and, you know, we're going to impact the midterms.
00:27:52.640And it's kind of like, okay, and it's sometimes as if it is assumed that there's no other argument.
00:28:00.240Oh, well, yeah, you got to see our argument.
00:28:02.080The American people are going to see our argument on this.
00:28:05.820And it's like the president's got a very, very, very good political head on his shoulders.
00:28:13.600It's like if you're in Michigan, you're in Ohio, you know, you go across the Midwest, it's like Donald Trump is fighting for your job and he's fighting for it today.
00:28:28.880You know, you've had enough presidents who have come and gone, who have signed trade deals that have taken your jobs and have moved them to other parts of the world, including Canada.
00:28:48.400We're going to negotiate to save American jobs, and we're also believing that we're going to go through that process with Canada, and that when we're done, we will have a strong partner to the north.
00:29:03.360That is the option that we put on the table that was there on Friday.
00:29:11.020If that's not the deal that they want, they'll have the opportunity sometime in the future to come back and outline maybe what they want.
00:29:21.360But, you know, we went through weeks, you know, probably three weeks of negotiations here.
00:29:29.160And, you know, for this stuff to be derailed at the last minute by some of the stuff that we've been accused of, probably, you know, I don't know.
00:29:40.440You would have thought those things would have come up way earlier in the process.
00:29:43.960But the bottom line is we want a strong America.
00:30:29.620OK, I mean, it is, you know, it was a fortress North America.
00:30:35.520It was a fortress North America that said we're going to be energy independent, not America, North America in terms of producing it.
00:30:45.460refining it and processing it. We are going to be a fortress North America in terms of
00:30:53.620potentially automobiles. You know, like you said, I'm from Michigan. I know how much
00:31:00.700the auto industry is integrated. We are going to be a fortress North America in terms of how
00:31:09.880we protect ourselves militarily against the threats that are out there, whether it's China,
00:31:15.860whether it's Russia, or whether it's somebody else. That is in there. Those are the kinds of
00:31:23.900things that you have in there. You've got steel, you've got aluminum, you've got uranium,
00:31:28.720you've got food. All of those types of things were parts that we believe were
00:31:36.060a future and a vision of taking a relationship that was pretty darn good. And some would even
00:31:46.640go further than that. We created a lot of wealth and a lot of prosperity on both sides of the
00:31:52.540border. And we've walked away from that. Not us. We were more than willing to extend it and enhance
00:32:01.560it with a new trade agreement moving forward. But that's not where we're at. And we will see
00:32:09.860when we get back to it. I think it's pretty clear that your negotiators, you know what we want,
00:32:21.280what we're putting out there, and the promise that we've made to Canada that basically puts
00:32:29.440canada uh at the front of the line in terms of having a trade agreement with the united states
00:32:36.400of america and i think america is excited about that possibility uh that at the forefront of that
00:32:45.900relationship uh is canada and you know canada hasn't seen that at this point i said that was
00:32:55.280my last question but i've got to jam one more in because other people will chide me if i don't
00:33:00.100and that is dairy in canada we have a dairy cartel that keeps out foreign competition
00:33:06.480and it keeps prices very high in canada can you give us a word on how that issue was
00:33:13.140in the discussions or what the state of it is do you think there's any possibility
00:33:16.880that canada could abandon its supply management system i don't think we push for supply management
00:33:24.560to be gone. I think we're asking for give us what you promised us six years ago in terms of access
00:33:32.840to the Canadian market, which we have not received, but give us back or give us and fulfill the promise
00:33:40.600that was made six years ago. There might have been a few other slight modifications, but I
00:33:46.220I believe that supply management was going to stay in some form or another and maybe very much in one form, similar to what is what is there today.
00:33:59.560That was that was not, you know, that was not a stumbling block to getting to an agreement.
00:34:09.320Very interesting. I'm so grateful to you for your time.
00:34:11.960And I know you have other commitments and other media you could talk to.
00:34:14.920So thank you for visiting us at Rebel News and look forward to catching up again.
00:34:19.560We love we love free media and not by meaning we get access to it for free.
00:34:28.600We love folks that, you know, that are out there.
00:34:34.400They are, you know, they're you're doing a service.
00:34:38.000You're educating your people and at least we appreciate the opportunity to be able to go through you and offer an explanation from the American side as to exactly what, from our perspective, is going on.
00:34:55.440We know that there are those that present the Canadian perspective.
00:34:59.300they really don't provide us with much opportunity to provide the American perspective
00:35:04.040with with questions okay with questions we're more than willing to take questions
00:35:09.940we just we're not real fans of you know doing a long-form interview and then seeing 30 seconds
00:35:18.700of it in a clip which is like let's see you're asking that we're answering that and you've taken
00:35:24.740and you put it together and it's kind of like, you know, they go through you, they see the whole
00:35:29.880thing. Right. Okay. And we are very appreciative of that opportunity. Well, it's our pleasure and
00:35:36.620we won't leave out a minute and, um, look forward to catching up with you again in the future and
00:35:41.580good luck in this important project that you're working on. Got it. Thank you. Have a great day.
00:35:48.180There is U.S. Ambassador to Canada, Pete Hoekstra. What do you think of this interview? Send me a
00:35:54.100note to Ezra at rebelnews.com. That's our show for today. Until next time, on behalf of all of us
00:36:01.700here at Rebel World Headquarters, to you at home, good night, and keep fighting for freedom.