International Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc says Canada has “no reason to think” the United States wants to trigger an early review of the North American free trade deal, but American officials do want to discuss tackling economic and security issues together.
“It’s obvious that we’re not going to wait until the obligatory review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Free Trade Agreement in 2026 to make progress on the tariffs that have hit us for the last number of months,” LeBlanc said in an interview on Rosemary Barton Live that aired Sunday.
“We have no reason to think, by the way, the Americans are interested in triggering an earlier review of the free trade agreement. They haven’t indicated that to us,” LeBlanc added.
LeBlanc’s comments come days after Prime Minister Mark Carney met with U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office and for a working lunch in the Roosevelt Room. The international trade minister accompanied Carney on the trip to Washington.
According to a senior Canadian official, Carney told Trump that any trade “deal” for Canada must include the U.S. lifting its tariffs on Canadian goods.
Chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton speaks with International Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc about the high-stakes meeting between the Prime Minister Mark Carney and President Donald Trump, and what a new cabinet can bring to future negotiations with the U.S. Plus, the Sunday Scrum — featuring The Hill Times managing editor Charelle Evelyn, the National Post’s Tyler Dawson and journalist and author Paul Wells, discusses how Carney did. And, our American Roundtable shares perspectives from south of the border with Matina Stevis-Gridneff, Canada bureau chief forThe New York Times, and CBC’s Washington correspondent Katie Simpson .
LeBlanc told Barton that Trump “spoke favourably or more constructively about the agreement than perhaps in previous public comments. But the American government isn’t respecting the agreement” the U.S. president signed in his first term.
During the Oval Office meeting, Trump signalled he’s willing to renegotiate CUSMA, saying “it’s good for all countries,” but added that there needs to be some unspecified tweaks — or they may have to do away with it altogether.
In January, Trump dismissed reports that he’s using tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods to push for an early negotiation of CUSMA. On the campaign trail, the U.S. president pledged he would renegotiate the agreement.
LeBlanc said the Americans “are interested in discussing how Canada and the United States can work on economic and security issues together, and hopefully that partnership will lead to the removal of the tariff.”
The minister added that Trump and some of his key trade representatives will be away from Washington next week, but the hope is that Canada can map out a “short-term work plan” when they return that will lead to some tariffs being lifted.
“Our hope is to very quickly get to work over the next 10 days,” LeBlanc said, noting that Trump will be in Kananaskis, Alta., for a G7 summit in June. “We hope to make some progress before then.”
Lifting tariffs will take time, says Yukon premier
Yukon Premier Ranj Pillai said he doesn’t think anyone expects tariffs will be lifted quickly, “and it shouldn’t happen quickly. I think it has to be very thoughtful and there’s a lot of a chess game to be played here.”
“We’ve got to make sure that Canada gets a deal on a renegotiation of CUSMA that’s good and fair,” Pillai said in an interview on Rosemary Barton Live that aired Sunday. “We felt we were already there. The U.S. doesn’t.”
Pillai, who announced his intention to step down as premier on Wednesday, said the U.S. will try “to take more pieces of the pie” but Canada should also think about new ways to work together with the Americans and strengthen its own economy.
Chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton speaks with Yukon Premier Ranj Pillai about his decision to step down, strengthening Arctic security and what he would like to see from the prime minister’s new cabinet.
Part of Carney’s work on managing those two issues will be selecting a new cabinet — set to be announced Tuesday — and laying out his legislative priorities in the throne speech that kicks off a new session of Parliament.
Pillai said northern premiers and Canadians across the country are watching to see who Carney picks for his cabinet and what “real significant commitments” the prime minister will make in the throne speech.
“It’s one thing for us to posture about the importance, but what’ll be key is what dollars are in this budget coming forward, what does the throne speech say and what are the first commitments to the territories? That will be the first step,” Pillai said.
“We have to believe in ourselves and understand what we’ve done for decades over these last 125 years as a country and get that confidence in place and move forward.”
