Prime Minister Mark Carney has highlighted the U.S.’s intention to continue imposing tariffs on specific sectors post the renegotiation of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on trade. Canada’s Trade Minister, Dominic LeBlanc, concluded a week of trade and tariff discussions in Washington with no concrete outcomes but a commitment to ongoing dialogue.
Following a meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House, where Trump expressed optimism about the talks, LeBlanc shared on social media that no deal had been reached yet. Carney emphasized that discussions with U.S. counterparts in Washington would persist towards resolving trade issues for both nations.
The update mentioned that the upcoming talks to update the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement, known as CUSMA in Canada, are scheduled for next year, with Carney noting that these negotiations might not address all outstanding issues. Carney highlighted specific sectors like steel, aluminum, autos, forest products, and pharmaceuticals that the U.S. considers strategic and subject to trade actions against global entities.
The Prime Minister stressed that efforts are concentrated on addressing these sectoral tariffs, which are expected to remain despite any modifications to CUSMA. Trump indicated that tariffs on Canadian goods would persist due to the historical imposition of tariffs between the two countries. He also hinted at the possibility of either renegotiating the current trilateral trade deal or pursuing alternative agreements that could benefit individual nations.
Notably, the majority of Canadian trade with the U.S. is exempt from tariffs under CUSMA, as per an executive order signed by Trump in July. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum remarked that while not all trade deal discussions need to be trilateral, CUSMA is legally binding in all three countries and would require substantial revisions if changes were to be made.
