Cautious optimism surrounds Carney’s ‘working visit’ to Washington

As Prime Minister Mark Carney’s plane lands in Washington Monday, for a much-anticipated meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, expectations are high for some sort of tariff relief.

The meeting comes as Trump threatens even more tariffs, this time targeting trucks.

Calling it a “working visit”, Carney is going back to the White House.

“I think it’s more of a working meeting, then a meeting with the expectation of an announcement of progress,” said Drew Fagan, a political analyst with McMillan Vantage Policy Group.

Fagan isn’t expecting much of a result out of Tuesday’s meeting with Trump, and neither is the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association, whose president Brian Kingston says he isn’t expecting an immediate lifting of any auto sector tariffs.

A sentiment echoed by the head of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association Flavio Volpe, who posted on X saying that what he’s hoping for is different than what he’s expecting.

As PMMC heads to DC to meet POTUS, what I’m hoping for is different than what I’m anticipating.

This is a working session, I’m not seeing a lot of movement in Washington on the issues that matter to Canadians interests in meetings & conversations I’ve had there.

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— Flavio Volpe, C.M. (@FlavioVolpe1) October 6, 2025

“The only thing that’s really going to help us make the progress we want, is an economic impact in the United States from the policies the president has undertaken,” said Fagan.

Political analyst Lori Williams from Mount Royal University, says cautious optimism from some insiders regarding the ongoing U.S.- Canada trade talks, suggests it’s possible that economic conditions in the states are changing.

“There may be a case to be made that it’s in the U.S.’s interest to diminish at least the tariffs on aluminum and steel,” said Williams.

Volpe also wrote on his optimism on X, regarding American industrial interests.

However, American industrial interests are looking for tariff accommodations from the White House with regards to Canadian steel, aluminum & autos.

Many of those parties need all three.

I’m hoping that our mutual early kickoff on the USMCA review will be a good moment for…

/2

— Flavio Volpe, C.M. (@FlavioVolpe1) October 6, 2025

In the meantime, the head of the United Steelworkers Union says Carney’s trip has raised expectations, and a visit without a tangible result would be a mistake.

The federal conservative leader has high expectations too, releasing a letter to Carney Monday that said in part, “If you only return with excuses, broken promises and photo-ops, you will have failed our workers, our businesses and our country.”

Early Monday afternoon, Trump posted online that as of Nov. 1, he will tariff any and all medium and heavy-duty trucks coming into the U.S., at a rate of 25 per cent.

But under the North American Free Trade Deal — The Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) — medium and heavy-duty trucks move tariff-free, if at least 64 per cent of a heavy truck’s value originates in North America.

WATCH MORE: Carney heads to Washington with low expectations amid U.S. tariff pressures