Canada's new prime minister says he'll be speaking soon with Trump for the first time

TORONTO (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday that he would speak with U.S. President Donald Trump in the coming days after Trump announced 25% tariffs on auto imports.

Carney, who hasn't spoken with Trump since becoming Canada's new leader nearly two weeks ago, said that the U.S. president reached out Wednesday night to schedule a call.

“We will be speaking soon, certainly in the course of the next day or two," Carney said, adding that Trump has to respect Canada's sovereignty. "That’s not much to ask, but apparently it’s a lot for him," he said.

Trump has declared a trade war on Canada and continues to call for the United States' northern neighbor to become the 51st U.S. state, a position that has infuriated Canadians.

“It is clear that the United States is no longer a reliable partner. It is possible that, with comprehensive negotiations, we will be able to restore some trust, but there will be no turning back,” Carney said. “We will need to dramatically reduce our reliance on the United States. We will need to pivot our trade relationships elsewhere."

The former central banker was sworn in as Canada's new prime minister on March 14. It's unusual for a U.S. president and Canadian prime minister to go so long without talking after a new leader takes office.

Carney, who replaced Justin Trudeau as Canada's leader and the head of the Liberal Party, is at the start of a five-week campaign after calling an early election for April 28.

The governing Liberals had appeared poised for a historic election defeat this year until Trump declared a trade war and challenged Canada's sovereignty. The crisis has created a surge in patriotism among Canadians, with many in the country feeling that Carney is the best person to lead the country at the moment.

Trump has acknowledged himself that he has upended Canadian politics.

Carney called the tariffs unjustified and left the election campaign to chair his special Cabinet committee on U.S. relations in Ottawa.

"We will fight the U.S. tariffs with retaliatory trade actions of our own that will have maximum impact in the United States and minimum impacts here in Canada,” Carney said.

He said many Canadians are feeling worried and anxious about the future.

He said over the coming years Canadians must fundamentally reimagine the economy in a drastically different world. More than 75% of Canada's exports go to the U.S.

"The old relationship we had with the United States based on deepening integration of our economies and tight security and military cooperation is over,” he said.

Carney is asking Canadians for a clear and strong mandate given “the biggest crisis in our lifetimes.”

Automobiles are Canada’s second-largest export and the sector employs 125,000 Canadians directly and almost another 500,000 in related industries.

Carney announced this week a CA$2 billion ($1.4 billion) “strategic response fund” that will protect Canadian auto jobs affected by Trump’s tariffs.

Trump previously had granted a one-month exemption on his stiff new tariffs on auto imports from Mexico and Canada for U.S. automakers.

In the auto sector, parts can go back and forth across the Canada-U.S. border several times before being fully assembled in Ontario or Michigan.

Trump previously placed 25% tariffs on Canada’s steel and aluminum and is threatening sweeping tariffs on all Canadian products — as well as on all of America’s trading partners — on April 2.

The president has plunged the U.S. into a global trade war — all while on-again, off-again new levies continue to escalate uncertainty.

The tax hike on auto imports starting in April means automakers could face higher costs and lower sales.

“This is not an industry that is Donald Trump’s to steal or take,” said Lana Payne, the National President of Unifor, the union that represents auto workers in Canada.

Payne said that Carney should tell Trump that if U.S. automakers are going to sell cars and trucks in Canada, they are going to have to build in Canada.

Opposition Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre said Trump needs to “knock it off” when asked by journalists about the president's repeated attacks.

“We will never be the 51st state but we can be friends again with the United States if he reverses course,” Poilievre said.

Canada Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks with media on Parliament Hill following a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Canada-U.S. Relations and National Security, in Ottawa, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP)

Canada Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks with media on Parliament Hill following a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Canada-U.S. Relations and National Security, in Ottawa, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP)

Prime Minister Mark Carney arrives on Parliament Hill to chair a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Canada-U.S. Relations and National Security, Thursday, March 27, 2025 in Ottawa. (Adrian Wyld /The Canadian Press via AP)

Prime Minister Mark Carney arrives on Parliament Hill to chair a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Canada-U.S. Relations and National Security, Thursday, March 27, 2025 in Ottawa. (Adrian Wyld /The Canadian Press via AP)

Prime Minister Mark Carney arrives on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Thursday, March 27, 2025. Carney will chair a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Canada-U.S. Relations and National Security. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP) /The Canadian Press via AP)

Prime Minister Mark Carney arrives on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Thursday, March 27, 2025. Carney will chair a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Canada-U.S. Relations and National Security. (Frank Gunn /The Canadian Press via AP)

Prime Minister Mark Carney arrives on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Thursday, March 27, 2025. Carney will chair a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Canada-U.S. Relations and National Security. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP) /The Canadian Press via AP)

MANDALAY, Myanmar (AP) — The death toll from the earthquake that hit Myanmar has risen to more than 1,700 as more bodies have been pulled from the rubble, the country’s military-led government said Monday.

Government spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun told state-run MRTV that another 3,400 have been injured and more than 300 were missing. The military had previously reported 1,644 dead but did not provide specific figures in its update.

The 7.7 magnitude earthquake hit at midday Friday, causing widespread damage, including in the capital Naypitaw and the second largest city, Mandalay.

It was the time of Friday prayers for the country's Muslim minority during the holy month of Ramadan, and some 700 worshippers were killed when mosques collapsed, said Tun Kyi, a member of the steering committee of the Spring Revolution Myanmar Muslim Network. It was not clear whether they were already included in the official count of casualties.

Tun Kyi said some 60 mosques were damaged or destroyed when the earthquake struck, and videos posted on The Irrawaddy online news site showed several mosques toppling during the quake, and people fleeing from the areas.

The true number of people killed and injured across the regions hit is thought to be possibly many times the official figures, but with telecommunication outages and extreme challenges to movement around the country, little is known about the damage in many areas.

“We're really not clear on the scale of the destruction at this stage,” Lauren Ellery, deputy director of programs in Myanmar for the International Rescue Committee, told The Associated Press.

There is a state of emergency in six regions, and Ellery said her teams on the ground and their local partners are currently assessing where needs are the greatest, while providing emergency medical care, humanitarian supplies and other assistance.

“They were talking about a town near Mandalay where 80% of the buildings were reportedly collapsed, but it wasn't in the news because telecommunications have been slow,” she said.

“Even in areas where there isn't so much impact, our partner reported to us on Saturday that there were landslides stopping them reaching one of the villages.”

The earthquake, centered near Mandalay — a city of some 1.5 million, brought down buildings and damaged other infrastructure like the city’s airport.

A lack of heavy machinery has slowed search and rescue operations, forcing many to slowly search for survivors by hand in the relentless heat, with daily temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).

The earthquake also shock neighboring Thailand and killed at least 18 people, many at a construction site in Bangkok where a partially built high-rise collapsed.

Another 33 have been reported injured and 78 missing, primarily at the construction site near the popular Chatuchak market.

Heavy equipment was shut down and authorities urged onlookers to be silent as they used machines to try and detect any signs of life from under the rubble.

Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt told reporters at the scene that signs had been detected Sunday night, though experts could not determine whether it had been machine error.

Nonetheless, he said he still had hope survivors would be found.

“Even if one life is saved, it is worth all the effort,” he said.

Rising reported from Bangkok. Associated Press journalist Jerry Harmer contributed to this story from Bangkok.

In this photo taken from video released by Russian Emergency Ministry Press Service on Sunday, March 30, 2025, Russian Emergencies Ministry rescuers, together with its Chinese colleagues, rescue a woman from under the rubble, after she was lying under piles of concrete for more than two days, in Mandalay, Myanmar. (Russia Emergency Ministry Press Service via AP)

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese rescuers looks at a collapsed building before conducting a search and rescue operation in the aftermath of an earthquake in Mandalay, Myanmar, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (Myo Kyaw Soe/Xinhua via AP)

Rescuers work at the site of the Sky Villa Condo that collapsed In Friday's earthquake in Mandalay, Myanmar, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)