Canada must act swiftly to counter a growing perception in Washington that it is deliberately delaying trade negotiations, according to Quebec's envoy to the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) review. Louise Blais, appointed last month as Quebec's representative for the CUSMA review, stated that an impression has taken hold in the U.S. capital that Canada is looking elsewhere and slow-walking the process.
Urgent need to address perceptions
Blais emphasized that Prime Minister Mark Carney's government needs to address this perception to ensure trade talks remain on track. Speaking on the sidelines of a policy conference in Toronto on Thursday, she warned that the belief in Washington is eroding important goodwill that must be maintained. She highlighted that the United States is Canada's number one customer and a vital partner.
However, Blais rejected the idea that Canada should make unilateral concessions to give momentum to the talks with members of Donald Trump's administration. She stated that Canada has already made enough concessions.
Background of tensions
Since becoming prime minister last year, Carney has responded to several demands from the White House, only to face more aggressive tactics from Trump and his officials. In June, Canada dropped a digital services tax that had been an irritant to the U.S., but weeks later, Trump raised tariff rates on Canadian goods anyway. Carney then removed many of Ottawa's retaliatory tariffs, but Trump still broke off negotiations on a deal to reduce metals tariffs in October, citing anger over a television ad commissioned by the Ontario government.
Since then, high-level discussions between Canadian and U.S. officials on resolving trade frictions have been limited.
Differing strategies
Steve Verheul, Canada's chief trade negotiator during the original CUSMA talks in Trump's first term, previously said that time is on Canada's side because pressures on the U.S. will only build. Those remarks drew a blunt response from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who called Canada's approach the worst strategy he had ever heard, adding, They suck.
On Thursday, Verheul argued that the Carney government should not give anything further to the U.S. without receiving something in return. He stated that such concessions should never be contemplated.
Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne acknowledged the urgency of the moment but noted that reaching a deal with the U.S. does not necessarily protect countries from tariff-related volatility. He pointed to Trump's fresh threats against the European Union as an example. Champagne said that Canada's G-7 partners are closely watching the playbook being used by Canada, and that Canada always aims to have constructive discussions with its U.S. partners.
