‘Two submarines from the mall’: Scott Bessent takes aim at Mark Carney

WASHINGTON, DC: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent escalated his clash with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Monday, August 31, mocking Canada’s military strength while accusing the premier of putting himself first.

The remarks came as the US and Canada traded tariffs and increasingly sharp statements over their deepening trade dispute.

Bessent made the comments during a CNBC interview from Asheville, North Carolina, where a G20 finance ministers meeting was taking place.

Scott Bessent mocks Canada’s military readiness

“Very unfortunate that PM [Mark] Carney has turned this into a political shouting match. I mean, we’re not at war with Canada,” Bessent said on CNBC’s ‘Squawk on the Street.’

“What are they going to do — take their two submarines from the Edmonton Mall and sic them on us?” he said.

The Treasury secretary, 64, then accused Carney, 61, of acting for himself rather than for Canadians.

“He’s not doing what’s best for the Canadian people,” Bessent said. “He’s doing what’s best for Mark Carney.”

Bessent also criticized Carney over a trade agreement, saying Canada had been offered favorable terms but the prime minister rejected them.

“They were offered the best trade deal of anyone on the globe and he walked away from it at the last moment,” Bessent told host Sara Eisen.

Mark Carney describes the US action as an attack

The military taunt came after the two countries exchanged increasingly forceful language over tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.

On August 22, the US imposed a 50% tariff on an estimated $28 billion of Canadian goods, including beer, cheese, and electronics, on top of existing duties on aluminum, lumber, vehicles, and steel.

Ottawa announced dollar-for-dollar retaliatory tariffs set to take effect September 8. 

Carney said on August 23 that Canada had been “attacked” by the US.

“You’re at war when you get attacked. We got attacked,” Carney told reporters. “That’s fine. We’ve got the reserves. We’ve got the resilience. We’ve got the plan. We’ve got the focus. We will respond.”

Trump also joined the dispute after Carney’s remarks. The president renamed Lake Ontario “Lake America” by executive order and called Canada “the worst to deal with on trade.”

Carney rejected the renaming, saying, “things must be called by their name, and this lake is called Lake Ontario, today and forever.”

Trump tells US businesses to avoid Canadian goods

Trump continued the pressure on Sunday, saying he does not want US businesses to import Canadian goods while the tariff dispute continues.

In a Truth Social post, Trump said his tariffs had “revived, and indeed saved” the American automobile industry, citing profits by Ford, General Motors and other US automakers during his second term.

He called Canada “one of the worst abusers” in trade and said, “They’ve been ripping us off for decades, and it’s going to stop.

Trump also argued that Canada’s government wants “to be treated like a State, but they aren’t one,” while saying he finds Canada “to be the worst” among countries whose leaders he deals with.

The president concluded, “They are entitled no longer!”

The tariffs cover 5% of US imports from Canada. American businesses imported nearly $382 billion in Canadian goods last year, according to US Census Bureau data.

Canada’s retaliatory levies will target steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper, and electronics. 

Canadian goods will face tariffs of 15%, 25% or 50%, with rates matching those imposed by the Trump administration.