Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc says the door is open for American officials to restart trade talks with Canada, but the next time for direct engagement on trade will likely be when the North American free trade agreement begins its review process next month.
“If ever in those conversations there’s an opportunity for the Americans to agree to something that would be in their interest and in Canada’s economic interest, of course we’re all in and ready to do that work,” LeBlanc said Sunday morning.
Canadian, American and Mexican officials are gearing up to review the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), which offers Canada crucial protection from many of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Despite the trade deal, the U.S. is still hitting Canadian exports of steel and aluminum with tariffs of 50 per cent, and some automotive exports and kitchen cabinets with tariffs of 25 cent.
Talks were ongoing about reducing the steel and aluminum tariffs, but Trump called them off in October, triggered by an anti-tariff television ad campaign by the Ontario government.
LeBlanc said Canada believed it was making progress with the Americans — and talks would eventually move to automobiles and softwood lumber — but Trump “decided to suspend those negotiations. That’s regrettable.”
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“It would have been important for the Canadian economy had we been able to land a deal that was in the interests of Canadian workers and Canadian businesses,” LeBlanc added.
As for the upcoming CUSMA review, it’s unclear whether the U.S. is interested in maintaining the trilateral agreement, or if it wants to negotiate separate bilateral agreements with Canada and Mexico — as some American officials have floated.
On Thursday, Canada’s ambassador to the U.S. Kristen Hillman downplayed signals from the Trump administration about breaking down the trilateral pact and said she hasn’t “heard any indication from the U.S. side that they want to change that foundation.”
“I don’t think this is an area of alarm,” Hillman said. “A stable, predictable, open, manageable trade relationship between our three countries is essential for the prosperity of our three countries. So that is what gives me confidence that this treaty will remain.”
All three countries must indicate by July 1 of next year whether they want to extend the agreement, renegotiate its terms or let it expire.
Under U.S. law, Trump’s lead trade negotiator Jamieson Greer must provide a report to Congress by Jan. 2 indicating the administration’s plans for the trade deal.
Any country can declare it intends to withdraw from CUSMA at any time by giving six months’ notice.
LeBlanc acknowledged the public comments from U.S. officials but said in private the conversations are “much more reassuring” about what the CUSMA review will look like.
“It’s not a renegotiation, it’s a review. We hope the Americans maintain posture,” LeBlanc said.
In an interview with CBC’s Rosemary Barton on Sunday morning, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre criticized Prime Minister Mark Carney for his handling of Canada-U.S. trade talks. He said the prime minister portrayed himself as the best person for the task — and he’s broken that promise.
When asked what he would do differently, Poilievre said Canada has to negotiate from a position of strength — and that includes approving natural resource projects to export more oil and gas to foreign markets to ease reliance on the U.S.
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“And then you can sit down with the president and say, ‘Look, now we’re selling our resources to the Asians, to the Europeans,'” Poilievre said. He also accused the Liberal government of stifling those projects.
In response to the Conservative leader, LeBlanc said the federal government has an agreement with the government of Alberta that paves a pathway for an oil pipeline to B.C. in exchange for Alberta strengthening its industrial carbon tax, among other measures.
“We do think that there is a way that the pipeline makes sense economically, environmentally and socially. But it’s a lot of work — we all have a lot of work ahead of us,” LeBlanc said.
“I don’t think we can be agnostic as a country to the responsible economic success of the energy sector in western Canada.”
