Montreal, Canada (AFP)— Canada will struggle to avoid a recession if the United States is hit by one, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Monday as President Donald Trump doubled down on tariffs that have upended global markets.

Trump’s trade war has “significantly” raised the prospect of a recession in the United States, Carney said, warning this also makes Canada’s economy vulnerable to a downturn.

“It’s very hard for us to avoid that,” Carney said at a campaign event ahead of elections later this month dominated by Trump’s trade wars and his stated desire to annex Canada.

Trump has resolutely defended the sweeping tariffs he announced last week, which have spooked traders and fanned fears of an international recession.

Canada — one of the United States’ key trading partners — was mostly spared in the latest round but had already been targeted by US tariffs on steel, aluminum and automobiles.

“I’m not going to sugarcoat it, there may be some tough days ahead for Canadians, but I also want to reassure that we are prepared,” Carney, a former central banker in Canada and Britain, said Monday.

He added that he wanted to accelerate investment in Canada, notably by eliminating trade barriers between Canadian provinces and facilitating labor mobility.

Carney, who last month succeeded Justin Trudeau as prime minister, has called parliamentary elections for April 28 that his Liberal Party is expected to win.

The Liberals trailed in polls earlier this year but pulled back thanks to a defiant stance to Trump’s trade war, with their Conservative rivals seen as more accommodating to the US president.