Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump are expected to speak in the coming days, following Washington’s move to slap 35 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods outside the Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade agreement, a federal cabinet minister said Sunday.
Dominic LeBlanc, the minister responsible for the U.S.-Canada trade file, told CBS News’ “Face the Nation” that he was “disappointed” about the White House’s decision to hike tariffs to 35 per cent. However, he also said he came away from talks with U.S. officials with a “better understanding” of American concerns, describing the conversations as “informative, constructive and cordial.”
While hopeful that a tariff-cutting deal is still possible, he acknowledged Canada and the U.S. are not yet close to a final agreement.
“We’re not yet where we need to go to get the deal that’s in the best interest of the two economies,” the minister said about his discussions with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Rep. Jamieson Greer.
LeBlanc was in Washington last week attempting to secure a deal with the Trump administration ahead of Friday’s deadline. He added that he expects Carney to talk with Trump “over the next number of days,” while LeBlanc will continue talks with Lutnick and Greer.
“We think there is an option of striking a deal that will bring down some of these tariffs (and) provide greater certainty to investment,” LeBlanc said. “We think there is a great deal to work on together.”
On top of Friday’s new 35 per cent tariffs, Canada remains hit by U.S. duties on steel, aluminum, automobiles and a new 50 per cent tariff on semi-finished copper.
Washington partly tied the latest tariffs to Canada’s alleged failure to curb fentanyl smuggling, despite Carney noting Canada accounts for just 1 per cent of U.S. fentanyl imports and saying the country is working to drive that number down.
The escalation marks the latest turn in a tariff war that reignited after Trump’s return to office earlier this year.
“We’re prepared to stick around and do the work needed (to reach a deal),” LeBlanc said.
