Open this photo in gallery: Canadian Ambassador to the United States Kirsten Hillman, left, and Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc prepare to leave following a meeting between Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, D.C., on May 6.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press Ottawa isn’t willing to rush a new trade pact or exchange the ratified and binding United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement for an executive handshake deal of the kind other countries are currently seeking from President Donald Trump, the Canadian ambassador to the United States says. Kirsten Hillman, speaking two days after Prime Minister Mark Carney’s White House visit with Mr. Trump, said the federal government is eager to obtain the removal of U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods but not in a deal that sacrifices “stability and a fair arrangement” for various industries. “It would be great to do it as soon as possible, but not at the expense of getting a deal that is not going to bring us back to a place where we are able to maintain the strength of some of these core sectors that have been affected by these tariffs,” Ms. Hillman said.
Canada‘s auto industry and steel and aluminum producers are among those industries hit by U.S. tariffs as Mr. Trump tries to force companies to shift manufacturing to the United States. Many countries are talking to Mr. Trump about trade deals after he imposed tariffs on most of the U.S.’s trading partners. He hit them in early April with what he called “reciprocal tariffs” for what the White House says are foreign measures that treated U.S. companies unfairly.
On Monday, the United States and Britain announced a limited trade deal that amounts to an executive agreement, as opposed to a binding pact ratified by the U.S. Senate, which in 2020 approved the USMCA. Trump announces U.S. trade deal with Britain, says ‘final details’ still to come Mr. Carney in late March announced that he and Mr. Trump had agreed that, after the April 28 Canadian election, the country’s two leaders would begin “comprehensive negotiations about a new economic and security relationship.” Business leaders and former diplomats have since argued against an overarching deal that links defence and trade because it could embolden the U.S. President to impose new tariffs if he is not happy with Canada‘s military expenditures. Ms. Hillman said she also sees discussions on security – including the illegal distribution of fentanyl − and matters such as critical minerals taking place separately from the renegotiation of the USCMA, which is already up for renewal in 2026.
“There are things that Canada and the United States will want to talk about between ourselves that relate more to how we operate as two countries,” she said. During his May 6 White House meeting with Mr. Carney, Mr. Trump said he’s not sure that the trilateral USMCA is necessary any longer. He also, however, acknowledged that renegotiations are coming up and indicated the United States would participate.
Ms. Hillman noted that Canada and the United States struck an arrangement on critical minerals during the first Trump presidency and now it’s time to determine how the two countries can build on that. The Tuesday meeting at the White House yielded no measurable progress in ending Mr. Trump‘s trade war with Canada, but Mr. Carney avoided any sign of conflict with the mercurial President. The ambassador said she’s not yet sure if USCMA renegotiations will start early as opposed to next year.
More than a dozen countries have indicated that they plan trade talks with the United States in the wake of Mr. Trump’s global tariff announcement. Asked whether this flurry of deal-making is a bad time for Canada to be seeking its own renegotiation, Ms. Hillman said she doesn’t think so. “I have enormous confidence in the Canadian ability to manage this relationship in all of its aspects,” she said.
International trade lawyer Lawrence Herman said any deals that other countries sign with Mr. Trump will simply be a deal with the White House. “None of these prospective Trump trade deals with other countries, unlike the USCMA, will be subject to congressional approval. Congress is out of the loop.
That’s the Trump method.” Ms. Hillman said Canada does not want to forgo a renewal of USCMA for an executive deal as other countries are seeking. “It obviously is a very valuable legal framework for our trade with the United States and Mexico,” she said of USMCA. “It’s an important feature of our trade with the Americans.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said earlier this week that it appears Americans are souring on Mr. Trump‘s trade wars as prices for goods rise because of the tariffs that the President has imposed on imports. Canada‘s ambassador to the United States said there is mounting concern among U.S. businesses and communities about the impact of the tariffs but it’s unclear whether it will help the Canadian government cut a deal with Mr. Trump. “You’re hearing a lot about that here in the United States right now: the cost of everyday items, Americans suffering because they can’t afford strollers or can’t even find car seats,” Ms. Hillman said.
Timing is very important for momentum in trade talks, she said, but whether this pressure helps clinch a deal is unknowable right now. However, she said, “Americans wanting resolution to some of these trade challenges and prices rising is very important for us.” The current U.S. levies on Canada that remain in effect include 25-per-cent tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum, as well as a 25-per-cent tariff on Canadian-made vehicles, which applies only to the non-U.S. content in those cars and light trucks. There is also a 25-per-cent tariff – which drops to 10 per cent on critical minerals, energy and potash – for goods that don’t comply with USMCA rules of origin.
Canada responded with a series of countertariffs on tens of billions of dollars of U.S. imports.
