Sector Deals With Canada ‘Unlikely’ as USMCA Talks Loom
Leader Mark Carney Says Talks on Both to Be Rolled In Together
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Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada probably won’t reach a near-term deal with the U.S. to lower tariffs on sectors such as steel and aluminum, and negotiations are likely to be rolled into next year’s review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
Canada and the U.S. were closing in on a pact on metals tariffs, but President Donald Trump then terminated talks in October in response to ads run in the U.S. by the province of Ontario. The television spots quoted former President Ronald Reagan speaking against tariffs.
“My judgment is that that is now going to roll into the broader CUSMA negotiation, so we’re unlikely, given the time horizons coming together, to have a sectoral agreement,” Carney said in Ottawa on Dec. 18, referring to the Canadian name for USMCA. “Although if the United States wants to come back on that in those areas, we’re always ready there — we’re very ready.”
He added that the terms of that deal are still on the table from Canada’s perspective, but the U.S. “has not picked up” the negotiation.
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Canada is “very ready on forest products to strike an agreement,” the prime minister added. The U.S. has placed roughly 45% duties and taxes on imports of Canadian softwood lumber, to the frustration of U.S. homebuilders.
Carney said that he, Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum set the broad parameters for the USMCA review on the sidelines of the FIFA World Cup draw event in Washington on Dec. 5.
He also reiterated that he continues to stand by Canadian controls on its dairy imports, an irritant to the U.S. that was reiterated by Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Dec. 17.
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