U.S. trade disruption is ‘messy’ but this turbulence will pass: Nikki Haley

Nikki Haley, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and a current vice-chair at Edelman, participates in a panel discussion at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce B7 Summit in Ottawa on Friday, May 16, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

OTTAWA — Canada and other countries should not give up on doing business with the United States, former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley said Friday at the B7 summit conference in Ottawa.

Haley, U.S. President Donald Trump’s former rival for the Republican presidential nomination, is among the key speakers at the event, where business leaders and diplomats have assembled to chart a way through global trade uncertainty.

The B7 is a partner conference to the G7 summit happening in Alberta next month.

Her comments come as Trump stokes instability in the global trade order through tariffs, forcing some businesses to reorient their supply chains away from the American market.

“Don’t assume that the U.S. doesn’t want to do business with your country,” Haley said. “They actually do want to do business with your country. It’s just messy right now.”

New U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra also told the audience of major business and political figures that the U.S. is “open for business” — even as Trump digs in on his claim that he will not lift tariffs on Canada, and after he told Prime Minister Mark Carney there was nothing he could say to change that.

“America is open to doing business. We’re open to doing business with you, our friends,” Hoekstra said.

The ambassador also claimed the president is moving at a rapid pace on his agenda. “We have never experienced anything like this in American politics,” he said.

Trump has repeatedly insisted the United States needs nothing from Canada, though Canada is a significant source for the U.S. for multiple key products, including energy and critical minerals.

Haley compared the current trade environment with the United States to “growing pains” and said “this too shall pass.”

She took part in a panel discussion Friday morning on how business leaders can build trust in an increasingly fractured world.

She said that while all businesses should have a “24-hour rule” encouraging them to pause before reacting to major geopolitical shifts, she joked that it should be a “72-hour rule” for those in the U.S. right now.

Haley otherwise avoided commenting directly on Trump, who defeated her for the Republican nomination in 2024. Haley, who was Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations during his first presidency, was not given a position in his second administration.

Former Conservative leader Erin O’Toole told reporters on the sidelines of the conference that there are good signs emerging now that the U.S. is reaching bilateral deals with the U.K. and China.

“That’s a start, that we’re maybe getting through the biggest period of uncertainty,” he said.

“I do think there’s unity now between many of the European members (of the G7) and Japan ... to make sure the United States understands they have been the beneficiary of global trade on the intangibles economy, whether it’s Hollywood or AI,” he later added. “We have an opportunity to reset the dialogue.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 16, 2025.

Craig Lord, The Canadian Press