Former central banker Mark Carney will become the next prime minister of Canada after winning the race to lead the country’s governing Liberal Party on Sunday.

In his first speech as party leader on Sunday, he said Canadians will not let President Donald Trump succeed in his attempts to “weaken” their economy. Carney will succeed Justin Trudeau, who resigned as prime minister in January, facing low approval ratings after nearly a decade in office.

Carney, 59, who served as governor of the Bank of Canada from 2008 to 2013 and governor of the Bank of England from 2013 to 2020, will lead his country when it is locked in a bitter trade war with the United States, its largest trading partner.

Trump signed an executive order imposing a 25% tariff on imports from Canada on Feb.1 but has twice postponed the start date on when it will go into effect. Trump has said the tariffs are a way to pressure Canada to stem the flow of migrants and fentanyl from across the border. Canada responded by imposing tit-for-tat retaliatory taxes on U.S. goods.

Long banking career and political novice

Carney, who has had a high-profile banking career, is a political outsider who has never held political office. A Harvard graduate, Carney played college-level ice hockey, starring as a goalkeeper.

He won praise for handling the financial crisis at the Bank of Canada in 2008 when he created new emergency loan facilities and gave unusually explicit guidance on keeping rates at record-low levels for a specific period, according to Reuters.

The Bank of England was impressed enough to poach him in 2013, making him the first non-British governor in the central bank’s three-century history, and the first person to ever head two G7 central banks, Reuters reported.

After leaving the Bank of England in 2020, Carney served as a United Nations envoy on finance and climate change.

Carney on Trump tariffs: ‘We can’t let him succeed’

In his first speech since being elected as party leader on Sunday, he directly spoke about Trump and the threat against Canadians.

“Donald Trump has put unjustified tariffs on what we build, on what we sell, on how we earn a living,” he said. “He’s attacking Canadian workers, families, and businesses. We can’t let him succeed and we won’t.”

Carney said the Canadian government was right about retaliating with their tariffs to have “maximum impact in the United States and minimum impact here in Canada.”

“My government will keep our tariffs on until the Americans show us respect,” he said.

He said that Canada will “never, ever, will be part of America in any way, shape, or form,” referring to Trump’s repeated desire to annex Canada as the “51st state.”

“We didn’t ask for this fight, but Canadians are always ready when someone else drops the gloves. So, Americans should make no mistake… In trade, as in hockey, Canada will win,” he said.

When will the Canadian elections be held?

Polls though indicate that neither the Liberals nor the Conservatives would be able to form a majority government, according to Reuters. An election must be held by October 20.

Two Liberal Party sources told Reuters that Carney would call an election in the coming weeks, meaning one could occur much sooner.

Contributing: Reuters

Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a White House Correspondent for USA TODAY. You can follow her on X @SwapnaVenugopal