Relief for Canada from U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum may come thanks to renewed interest in a pipeline project first proposed more than 15 years ago.
Prime Minister Mark Carney raised the Keystone XL oil pipeline, which would run from northern Alberta to the U.S. Midwest, during his conversations with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House pn Tuesday, according to a source with direct knowledge of the meeting.
The source said Carney expressed renewed national interest in the pipeline from the Canadian side and the U.S. president was receptive to the project advancing.
That revived interest by the Canadian government in a pipeline Trump has long supported seemed to open up the potential for movement on steel and aluminum tariffs in particular.
CBC News is not identifying the source because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
In a press conference after the meeting, Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc did say the prime minister and the president had instructed their teams to move quickly on “priority files” and specifically said there was a hope to land deals on steel, aluminum and energy.
LeBlanc gave no further details when referring to the “energy” component of the deal.
Trump has previously said he hopes for Keystone XL to be revived after the Obama administration shut it down. Trump revived it in his first presidency, then President Joe Biden killed it again in 2021.
Trump rescinded an order by Biden to revoke the permit for the project, which would allow a company to move forward with a proposal again. In February, Trump posted on social media, “We want the Keystone XL Pipeline built.”
At Issue | Carney meets Trump in Washington – again
New support from the Canadian government and U.S. administration could see the private sector re-examine the project, which was first proposed in 2008.
The source says Carney and Trump made material progress on the issue of steel and aluminum, which is currently being hit with a 50 per cent duty — the highest of all tariffed sectors.
Canadian officials’ hope going into the meeting had been to see some relief for that industry. That work will continue in the days ahead with ministers and officials on both sides of the border.
The move to put the Keystone XL pipeline back on the table comes just days after the Alberta government said it would pitch a pipeline project itself in hopes of finding a private backer if the federal government’s Major Projects Office would greenlight the plan.
That proposed pipeline would run through British Columbia and Premier Danielle Smith called it a “test” for Canada.
B.C. Premier David Eby has already criticized the idea, calling the proposed pipeline “fictional” and saying it would cost taxpayers billions of dollars.
The previous Keystone XL pipeline proposal would have seen a pipeline transport crude oil from Hardisty, Alta., to Nebraska.
The Alberta government has already invested $1.5 billion in equity to get it off the ground.
The project faced many obstacles in the U.S., including opposition from environmentalist and Indigenous groups.
The company behind the original proposal, TC Energy Corp., has now spun off is oil operations into a company called South Bow Corp, which told the Canadian Press in February that it had “moved on” from the expansion project.
