Canada-U.S. trade talks near deal, but sectoral tariffs remain unclear

The potential deal pushed U.S. President Donald Trump to hold off, for more than three days, on new 50 per cent tariffs that had been slated to come into effect earlier in the day.

Few details about what the deal covers have emerged, but a final agreement will be needed by Friday to avoid the new 50 per cent tariffs.

Canada-U.S. trade minister Dominic LeBlanc and U.S. trade representative Jamieson Greer say they are near the finish line.

“We’re very happy with where we ended up,” said Greet.

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They met at Greer’s office Wednesday morning, and Prime Minister Mark Carney says significant progress has been made, even referencing an advantage in a post on social media.

“We are now moving towards an agreement that reinforces that Canadian advantage, including by securing the best terms in each of Canada’s most important strategic sectors,” said Prime Minister Mark Carney in a post on X.

Minister LeBlanc says agricultural supply chain management will remain, an item considered non-negotiable for some Canadian leaders.

“We needed to ensure that the supply management regime remained entirely intact, and I’m confident that that’s the case,” said LeBlanc.

The minister didn’t respond to questions on sectoral tariffs, nor did he say if Canada secured lower duties on steel, aluminum, lumber or Canadian autos.

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The specific terms of the deal have not been released, but when asked if American tariffs on Canada’s automotive sector will be lowered, Trump said, “we’re reducing it a little bit — it’s good for everybody.”

Trump called it a good deal for both sides, and also says the U.S. will have no tariffs going into Canada.

“But our farmers are going to be thrilled, our manufacturers are going to be thrilled, and basically we have no tariffs going into Canada anymore — Canada was charging us tremendous tariffs,” said Trump.

Tuesday night, Trump posted an AI image of him digging up the controversial Keystone XL pipeline and suggested the deal may lead to the project’s return in a social media post.

Canada hasn’t commented on that claim, but Trump’s trade representative Greer told reporters he’s confident the expected trade deal strengthens the North American economy, and eliminates some of the so-called trade irritants between our two nations.

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“North America will continue to be an energy powerhouse, a manufacturing powerhouse and align on important things like economic security and digital security,” said Greer.

The deal, however, isn’t final yet.

“We need to think about what the details are here,” said Canadian Chamber of Commerce Principal Economist Andrew DiCapua.

He said that the details are the key.

“What have we agreed to that could potentially restrict us in terms of our dealings with other countries, or how we of course remain competitive as an individual country.” said DiCapua.

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DiCapua also points out the challenge of renewing the larger Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade pact remains.

“If there is a deal in the next few days, it’s an interim deal before the real deal,” said DiCapua.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business said the removal of the threatened new 50 per cent tariffs and U.S. approval of the Keystone pipeline would be good, but sectoral tariffs need to be dealt with.

B.C.’s lumber trade council says it’s unclear how or if their sector will be affected.

The prime minister held meetings Wednesday afternoon with his cabinet and Canada’s premiers, where he was expected to brief them on the trade talks.

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