Canada can only go so far in responding to new levies imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump given the mismatch in size between the economies, Prime Minister Mark Carney said.

“There is a limit to matching these tariffs dollar for dollar given the fact that our economy is a tenth the size of the United States,” Carney told reporters in London on Monday.

He said Canada’s response will depend what Trump imposes on April 2. Trump has repeatedly promised to roll out reciprocal tariffs on countries that have existing tariffs on U.S. goods, along with additional levies on sectors such as autos, pharmaceuticals and semiconductors.

When Trump first threatened across-the-board 25 per cent tariffs on Canada, then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau outlined potential retaliation on $155 billion worth of U.S. goods. Trudeau’s government went on to target about $60 billion in U.S. imports in response to Trump’s actions.

Carney, who replaced Trudeau as prime minister on Friday, suggested it will be difficult for Canada to go beyond the remaining $95 billion on the list. He said those items were chosen because they have “maximum impact on the United States and limited — but not zero — impact in Canada.”

“We are not going to take an action that we think is not ultimately going to influence the United States, and certainly not one that is outright harmful to Canada,” Carney said.

Carney spoke to reporters during his first foreign trip since taking office. Earlier in the day he met with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London.

Unlike Canada, the U.K. chose not to respond when Trump imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports last week. Carney said he did not push for such action during his meeting with Starmer.

“We take our own decisions with respect to our bilateral trade relationships with the United States,” Carney said. “We’re not trying to organize coordinated retaliation. Other countries will take those decisions.”

He stressed that what Canada is aiming for with Trump is “a more comprehensive discussion of, and negotiation of, our overall commercial and security relationship.”

“When the United States is ready to have that conversation, we’re ready to sit down,” Carney said.

Bloomberg.com