Is trade war throwing Canada into the arms of Europe?

by Donato Paolo Mancini, Andrea Palasciano, Thomas Seal and Brian Platt

Canada has floated doing major defense deals with Europe and improving the continent’s access to its critical minerals in response to President Donald Trump’s threats and his pullback from US defense commitments.

Canada is seeking closer defense industry cooperation with Italy and the European Union as “a matter of urgency,” Elissa Golberg, its ambassador in Rome, wrote to Italy’s finance, foreign affairs, defense and enterprise ministers on Monday. That was the same day new Prime Minister Mark Carney visited France and the UK for talks with allies in his first foreign trip since being sworn in as Canada’s new leader on March 14. 

The ambassador’s letter, which was seen by Bloomberg News, requested Italy’s support in ensuring that legislative texts allow third parties to collaborate with the EU’s ReArm defense plan. 

A Canada-EU defense partnership can be concluded quickly, which would make Canada eligible for joint procurement with European nations under the ReArm plan, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. 

Golberg’s letter outlined plans “to purchase a number of key capabilities through major near-term procurement efforts” including as many as a dozen submarines, additional fighter jets, and battle tanks “that could potentially be acquired from European suppliers”. 

Just hours after he was sworn in as Canada’s prime minister on Friday, Carney ordered a review of Canada’s deal to acquire dozens of F-35 fighter jets from US-based Lockheed Martin Corp., as part of a reassessment of Canada’s reliance on the US. Trump’s sweeping tariffs and his threats of “economic force” to make the country a 51st US state have rattled Canadians. 

Trump and members of his administration have also taken aim at Canada’s relatively low level of defense spending — it’s well below the 2% NATO target, though rising — and the size of the US trade deficit with Canada. 

The runner-up in Canada’s 2023 deal to buy warplanes was Sweden’s Saab AB fighter. Germany’s ThyssenKrupp AG has registered lobbyists in Ottawa regarding Canadian plans to buy submarines. 

Canadian industry “has much more to offer,” the letter continues, like drones, satellite communications, robotics, AI, cybersecurity, and better integration of supply chains for Canada’s large reserves of critical minerals needed for advanced defence technologies and renewable energy systems such as nickel, cobalt and lithium. 

Europe’s effort to boost defense spending “is of interest to us as Canada because of a potential alternative supplier,” Carney told reporters in London on Monday. “It creates the potential to create supply chains that mean that Canadian companies are participating in the development of these defense systems.”

Representatives for the Canadian embassy in Rome, Canada’s Department of National Defence, and Italy’s foreign ministry didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment outside of ordinary working hours. 

Canada has already agreed to negotiate a security partnership with the EU, but the letter says it would like to work more closely on security and defense “given the current evolving geopolitical environment.” 

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