Prime Minister Mark Carney has said Canada is seeking a “unique alliance” with the European Union (EU) but not membership of the bloc, as its trade war with the US intensifies.

“What we are looking – and will begin discussions for – [is] a unique alliance with the European Union,” Carney told reporters in Toronto on Sunday.

Carney will this week travel to the UK and France, where he is due to address the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

His comments come after the Wall Street Journal reported that EU officials were open to a suggestion from Carney that Canada could become an “associate member” of the bloc, according to officials from both sides.

Carney instructed his special envoy to Europe to “scope out the most ambitious possibilities short of full membership”, the paper reported.

Speaking to reporters at the Toronto International Film Festival, Carney denied Canada was seeking formal membership, saying: “We share the same values. We have the same priorities, and we have very complementary strengths.”

He continued: “We’re stronger together. And this is at a time when the world’s more dangerous and divided, and friends need to stick together at these times.”

In recent weeks, Canada and the US have been locked in an escalating trade war, after trade negotiations between the two countries broke down in late August.

The US has imposed tariffs on key Canadian sectors including steel, aluminium and lumber, as well as introducing an additional 50% levy on about C$28bn ($20bn; £15bn) of Canadian goods.

In response, Ottawa slapped levies of up to 50% on C$28bn ($20bn; £15bn) of American products, from steel to furniture to cotton T-shirts.

While in Europe, Carney will attend European Commission Ursula von der Leyen’s State of the European Union address. The Canadian leader will also travel to Liverpool to meet with UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham.

Since taking office, Carney has promoted a strategy aimed at creating a “more independent, more resilient economy”, in the wake of increasingly hostile policy towards his country from the Trump administration.

Trump has talked about making Canada a “51st state” of the US, and recently ordered the US government to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America”.

In January, Carney urged middle powers to come together during a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, adding that the “old order is not coming back”.