Carney's U.S. point person says tariffs deal hasn't hit a 'dead end'

Canada-U.S. Merchandise government minister saint dominic LeBlanc said th the federal soldier government is still holding out hope the two countries can reach a deal on punishing American tariffs before the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) comes up for a review next year.

Speaking to the Senate's foreign affairs and international trade committee, LeBlanc said he and other officials are in regular contact with their American counterparts about brokering a resolution to the ongoing trade dispute.

"I'm not seeing a dead end in those conversations," LeBlanc said.

The North American trade partners have launched domestic consultations on renewing CUSMA — a potentially long and drawn out process that is required under the text of the deal U.S. President Donald Trump hashed out in his first term.

LeBlanc says Canada not dropping supply management in U.S. Trade talks

LeBlanc said Canada would like to see some sort of agreement on the tariffs separate from the CUSMA renegotiation.

"I'm hoping we can get progress before the review process formally engages. But time will tell us if my optimism is misplaced," LeBlanc said.

While some other U.S. Trade partners like the European Union and the U.K. Have reached deals with Trump by agreeing to across-the-board tariffs on their goods, LeBlanc said Canada will not accept "any deal with a baseline tariff."

Prime Minister Mark Carney and Trump jointly agreed to reach some sort of agreement on tariffs by August — a deadline the two sides blew past with no deal.

Since then, the tariff pressure on Canada has only intensified as the Trump administration imposes its Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum and their derivatives and the auto sector.

Just this week, Trump announced new Section 232 levies on lumber and timber, kitchen cabinets, vanities and other furniture and upholstered products, arguing Canadian and other imports are somehow a "national security" threat.

The lumber tariffs are particularly problematic for Canadian producers given the Americans have also imposed countervailing and anti-dumping duties under a different tariff process.

Still, LeBlanc said he was hopeful the two countries can work through these trade issues while warning it could still be a bumpy road ahead.

"The vast majority of these issues are resolvable or can be significantly improved," LeBlanc said.

LeBlanc said it's unlikely the Canada-U.S. Trade relationship will "go back to where we were a year ago … but I think we can be in a lot better position over time than we find ourselves in today."

Trump has railed against Canada's system of supply management for some agricultural products like dairy, which he has framed as a barrier to getting more U.S. Farm goods into the Canadian market.

LeBlanc said Canada is committed to supply management, despite a report in the Globe and Mail this week that the country is weighing giving U.S. Dairy producers more access to the Canadian retail market through changes to how quotas are allocated.

"We state privately and publicly we are not going to negotiate that," LeBlanc said of a system he framed as integral to Canada's economic and food safety policies.

LeBlanc said Trump and his team are fixated on announcing instances of foreign companies making big investments in the U.S.

The White House website has a running tally of investments announced in Trump's second term.

The trade minister said Canadian firms invest more in the U.S. Than those from just about any other country on Earth and there will be a push to publicize that fact in the coming weeks. "It's a good story for Canada to tell," he said.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre meanwhile said Thursday that Carney has been a disappointment on the U.S. Trade file. 

"He promised he would negotiate a win with the United States by July 21," Poilievre said at an unrelated news conference on crime. "Where is the win?"

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