OTTAWA — New Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has called a snap election for April 28, saying he needs a strong mandate to deal with the threat posed by US President Donald Trump, who "wants to break us so America can own us".

The comments showed the extent to which relations between the United States and Canada, two longtime allies and major trading partners, have deteriorated since Trump imposed tariffs on Canada and threatened to annex it as the 51st US state.

Although the next election was not due until Oct 20, Carney is hoping to capitalize on a remarkable recovery by his Liberal Party in the polls since January, when Trump began threatening Canada and former prime minister Justin Trudeau announced his resignation.

Upon being sworn in as prime minister on March 14, Carney had said he could work with Trump and respected him. On Sunday, however, he took a more combative approach.

"We are facing the most significant crisis of our lifetimes because of President Trump's unjustified trade actions and his threats to our sovereignty," Carney told reporters after the Governor General — the personal representative of King Charles, Canada's head of state — approved his request for an election.

"Our response must be to build a strong economy and a more secure Canada. President Trump claims that Canada isn't a real country. He wants to break us so America can own us. We will not let that happen."

Carney still has not had a phone call with Trump, pledging not to meet him until he recognizes Canadian sovereignty.

On March 6, Trump delayed a broad 25 percent tariff on some Canadian goods for 30 days. He has since imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports and threatened reciprocal tariffs on additional goods, including Canadian dairy and lumber, on April 2.

'No 1 concern'

"The polling suggests that the number one concern that Canadians have right now is the potential negative fallout of Donald Trump and the threatened tariffs," said Nik Nanos, chief data scientist and founder of pollster Nanos Research.

Carney is "probably setting the groundwork for something a little more strident on April 2", Nanos said.

Carney, a former two-time central banker with no previous political or election campaign experience, captured the Liberal leadership two weeks ago by persuading party members that he was the best person to tackle Trump.

Now he has five weeks to win over Canadians. On Sunday Carney proposed cutting the lowest income tax bracket by one percentage point.

Polls suggest the Liberals, who have been in power since 2015 and badly trailed the official opposition Conservatives at the start of the year, are now slightly ahead of their rivals.

Right before Carney's announcement, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre launched his party's election campaign, vowing to stand up to Trump and his threats of annexation.

"I will insist the president recognizes the independence and sovereignty of Canada. I will insist he stops tariffing our nation," he said.

Poilievre said a "lost Liberal decade" has left Canada weak and vulnerable on the world stage.

Other major parties, including the New Democratic Party, the Bloc Quebecois and the Green Party, also launched their campaigns.

Agencies - Xinhua