Joly tells G7 counterparts Trump’s annexation threats ‘not a joke’

By Canadian Press on March 14, 2025.

OTTAWA — Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly told her G7 counterparts Friday that U.S. President Donald Trump’s annexation threats against Canada are not a joke as Trump continues to upend global trade.

“I think many of my colleagues coming here thought that this issue was still a joke and that this had to be taken in a humorous way,” Joly said Friday. “But I said to them, this is not a joke.”

Joly has been hosting the Group of Seven foreign ministers’ meeting in the Charlevoix region, northeast of Quebec City, at a fraught time in the relationship between Canada and the United States.

Joly said she had a “long conversation” on tariffs and trade with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday and told Rubio that “Canada’s sovereignty is not up for debate — period.”

Joly added she told Rubio that it’s important to organize a call between Trump and newly sworn-in Prime Minister Mark Carney.

Markets on both sides of the border have been thrown into disarray as Trump pursues his trade war with much of the world.

“We will put maximum pressure on the Americans and meanwhile, we will work on finding off-ramps,” Joly said.

Canadian officials said Thursday that a meeting that day with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in Washington was constructive — but they expected no immediate changes to the Trump administration’s punishing tariffs.

Just prior to the meeting with the Canadian officials, Trump said “Canada only works as a state” and called the international border between the two countries an “artificial line.” Trump said there was no chance he’d relent on tariffs.

Trump triggered the trade war earlier this month by slapping Canada and Mexico with across-the-board tariffs, only to provide a one-month pause for goods that meet the rules-of-origin requirements under the Canada-U.S-Mexico Agreement on trade days later.

Trump went ahead Wednesday with an additional 25 per cent tariff on all steel and aluminum imports into the U.S., backing down on a threat from the day prior to double duties on Canada.

Ottawa responded with 25 per cent tariffs on another $29.8 billion worth of American goods.

Canada has been the target of Trump’s ire since he returned to the White House in January, but his expanding trade war is now hitting countries around the world.

The European Union this week announced plans to retaliate over Trump’s latest tariff hit. The EU will raise tariffs on American beef, poultry, bourbon, motorcycles, peanut butter and jeans.

Trump also has signed an executive order to implement “reciprocal tariffs” starting April 2, and floated the idea of additional duties on copper, forest products and automobiles.

Joly received support from European counterparts in a post on social media this week. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock posted a photo with Vice-President of the European Commission Kaja Kallas with the two women wearing red and white. Baerbock told Joly, “We’ve got your back.”

“It was a great fashion statement. As a woman, I was really happy to see that they were, you know, wearing red and white,” Joly said Friday. “I have really good relationships with my colleagues.”

— With files from Catherine Morrison

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 14, 2025.

Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press