Mark Carney is now calling the Canada-US trade fight what he thinks it is: an economic war. Speaking Saturday on Parliament Hill, the economic legend said:“It is evident it is a new attack by the Americans on Canada. So, it is an attack in a war. It’s not a good choice. We want a global accord between the two countries.”As Cryptopolitan previously reported, Trump has put a 50% tariff on $20 billion of Canadian goods, and Canada is preparing to hit back dollar for dollar.Carney stood beside Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc and chief negotiator Janice Charette while laying out Ottawa’s version of how negotiations collapsed. He said the Canadian team “worked intensively and in good faith with the United States to negotiate a new comprehensive trade deal.”But Canada walked away once Washington brought forward terms it would not accept. “We cannot accept what they offered, and we will not give what they’ve asked,” Carney said.Trump’s tariff deadline collapsed after Washington and Ottawa accused each other of changing the dealTrump’s tariffs were due to begin at midnight on August 19. Trump then pushed that deadline back by three days and wrote online that the delay was “based on the fact that Canada and the U.S.A., subject to the finalization of documents, have a DEAL!”That deal never arrived.Talks had appeared to be heading towards a deal for several days. At one point, both sides had been described as being “very close.” But the talks fell apart as things started to wrap up. Carney sent the Canadians home Friday evening.Carney said that Washington had imposed new conditions at the last minute. One involved keeping medium and heavy-duty trucks outside the tariff relief being discussed. He said other American proposals were “uneconomic, unfair and undermined the net benefits to Canada, calling into question the reliability of any deal.”The United States gave a completely different account. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer accused Canada of introducing “new demands and walkbacks of other commitments” during a Friday night call with reporters.Carney denied that. His position is that Canada did not suddenly rewrite its demands and blow up the agreement.Now the response is moving from negotiation tables to actual tariffs. Canada plans to match the American measures dollar for dollar. The targets will include U.S. steel, dairy products, appliances, agricultural machinery, pulp and paper, and electronics. Carney said the full package would be announced within days and take effect on September 8.Carney enters the trade fight with a career built around financial crises, central banks and global marketsCarney is not a career trade lawyer who later moved into politics. He was born in Fort Smith, Northwest Territories, grew up in Edmonton, Alberta, and studied economics for years before entering finance. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Harvard University in 1987, then completed a master’s degree at Oxford in 1993 and a doctorate there in 1995.He worked at Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) before joining the Bank of Canada as deputy governor in 2003. A year later, he moved to Canada’s Department of Finance as a senior associate deputy minister.By 2008, he was running the Bank of Canada.That timing was not exactly relaxing. Carney became governor just as the global financial crisis was tearing through credit markets, banks, currencies, employment, and government finances. He stayed in the job until 2013 and directed Canadian monetary policy through that period.In 2011, he also became the second chair of the Financial Stability Board, the international body focused on risks across the global financial system. He served two terms and remained chair until 2018.Then came Britain.Carney became the 120th governor of the Bank of England in 2013 and the first person without British citizenship to get the job. He remained there until 2020. His term covered the financial fallout from Brexit and the opening stage of the COVID-19 pandemic. No one has ever been able to do this in the history of the world, by the way.After leaving the Bank of England, Carney moved between public policy and finance. He chaired Bloomberg L.P., served as vice-chair of Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE: BAM), and became co-chair of the World Bank’s private-sector investment lab. Starting in 2020, he also served as the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance.Then former PM Justin Trudeau announced his resignation in January 2025, nominating Carney, who entered the Liberal leadership race and won by a landslide on March 9, then five days later, he became prime minister despite never previously holding elected office.The government has, among other things, abolished the carbon tax for consumers at the federal level, passed the One Canadian Economy Act due to the trade war initiated by the Americans, and established the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit.Ottawa has also increased defense spending, formally recognized the State of Palestine, improved relations with China and India, and continued Canadian support for Ukraine. Basically, Carney is the opposite of Trump.Trump has started an economic war with a country by a literal economic god. Why he would think that’s a good idea is beyond us all.