Montreal, Canada - Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday downplayed a US decision to suspend cooperation in an 86-year-old joint defense advisory board.

The announcement on Monday by US Undersecretary of Defense Elbridge Colby was seen as the latest example of fraying relations between the neighbors since President Donald Trump returned to office last year.

Asked about the defense board pause on Tuesday, Carney said: "I wouldn't overplay the importance of this."

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Colby alleged that Canada had not made enough progress in boosting its defence spending, saying the United States could "no longer avoid the gaps between rhetoric and reality."

Carney has conceded that, historically, Canada had not met its NATO defense spending commitments.

But he stressed Tuesday that his government had already brought levels above the alliance's target of 2% of GDP devoted to defense.

Carney said Canada and the US still had "lots of cooperation" on defense and would continue to work together on various forums, including the North American Aerospace Defence Command.

The defense board, made up of American and Canadian military and civilian representatives, studies joint defense issues and offers policy recommendations to the two governments.

Carney said the board hadn't met since 2024.

It was established in 1940 under US President Franklin Roosevelt and Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King.

Bilateral ties have been hurt by Trump's tariffs and repeated threats to make Canada the 51st US state.

Trump was also irked by Carney's widely-touted January speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in which the prime minister declared that the global order was experiencing a "rupture."

Colby's defense board post included a link to Carney's Davos speech.