Next year, negotiations will begin to update the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA). Yet despite the progress seen during these discussions, Canadian officials are skeptical that these discussions will resolve all of the existing trade conflicts with the United States. On Friday, Dominic LeBlanc, Canada’s Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, was back from a week of intense negotiations in Washington, D.C. He lamented that the talks produced scant more than a promise for further talks.
During a meeting at the Oval Office on Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump reaffirmed the ongoing tariffs on Canadian goods, stating, “we’ve always had tariffs between the two of us.” He noted that tariffs on U.S. agricultural exports, most notably dairy products, would still be imposed after reaching established quotas. In fact, despite these tariffs, most Canadian trade with the U.S. remains tariff-free. This is in large part due to enforcement-oriented provisions within CUSMA that Trump himself pledged to uphold in his executive order last July.
LeBlanc made clear that Canada will focus on sectoral tariffs in the new negotiations. He anticipates these tariffs’ permanence, in spite of an amended version of CUSMA coming to bear. After wrapping up his meetings, he was ready to burn up the social channels. He sounded hopeful that future negotiations could make progress, but conceded no specific agreement is set to materialize at this time.
“Over the coming days, our team in Washington will continue discussions with their counterparts towards trade resolutions that will bring greater certainty to both of our countries.” – Dominic LeBlanc
This uncertainty over the trilateral trade deal has led to speculation about its long-term viability. Trump hinted at alternative agreements, suggesting, “we could renegotiate it and that would be good, or we could just do different deals.”
Here’s what Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum had to say about it. She stressed that all conversations don’t have to be done in a trilateral setting. She emphasized the legislative nature of CUSMA, remarking, “CUSMA is law in Canada, in the U.S. and in Mexico. It was approved by Congress. If you want to change it, there must be a profound revision of it.”
Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney, Canada’s de facto Prime Minister, accompanied LeBlanc on his visit to Washington. He spoke out about the administrative burden of Trade Promotion Authority negotiations. He pointed out that the negotiations probably wouldn’t result in a simple one step solution to persisting problems.
“It means that this is not one simple — as if any trade deal is simple — but one simple trade deal which will resolve all the issues.” – Mark Carney
