President Donald Trump said Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney would be “very happy” after their trade talks at the White House on Tuesday, but offered no immediate concessions on lifting steep US tariffs.

Striking a friendly tone in the Oval Office, Trump praised Carney as a “world-class leader,” adding that the former central banker was a “nice man” who can also be “very nasty.”

But Carney, who faced pressure at home to get a deal during his second White House visit since taking power in April, left without any firm promises that tariffs would be lifted.

“I think they’re going to walk away very happy,” Trump told reporters, saying that there was “natural conflict” between the two economies, but that they had “come a long way over the last few months.”

Carney said he was confident that Canada would “get the right deal” from the United States, his country’s main economic partner. (AFP)