A top White House adviser said Sunday that the United States and Canada are "very close" to a trade deal, days after President Donald Trump's Canada tariffs were reshuffled ahead of the Nov. 3 midterms.
National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett made the remark in a Fox News interview. CTV News identified the program as "Fox News Sunday," while the Financial Post said it was "The Sunday Briefing." Hassett said Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick had been speaking with his Canadian counterparts through last week.
Ottawa's response was more guarded, and the two governments' accounts do not fully match. The tariff changes announced Friday also appear tied to a competitive Senate race in Maine, where the White House has said the exemptions are an effort to boost Republican Sen. Susan Collins.
Is a Trump-Canada trade deal close?
"The negotiations have picked up. They're gathering steam," Hassett said, according to CTV News.
Asked why the tariffs had not yet produced a deal, Hassett blamed the "Canadian election that just happened, including Alberta separating," saying it had made it "essentially impossible to negotiate with the Canadians," CTV News reported. Albertans voted against holding a binding referendum on leaving Canada, according to CTV.
A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Financial Post that talks between Lutnick and Dominic LeBlanc, Canada's minister responsible for negotiations with the U.S., have picked up in recent weeks and are ongoing. The same official said prospects remain unclear because the U.S. does not believe Canada is offering enough yet.
The Canadian Press, in a report carried by Yahoo News Canada, said formal trade negotiations have not resumed since they fell apart in August.
Trump has offered shifting timelines. At a rally in Port Huron, Michigan, on Sunday, he said the dispute would be settled "pretty soon."
"Canada has been ripping off the United States for years, OK? For years. And I had to do it. We'll have that settled pretty soon. They're willing to give us anything at this moment," Trump said, according to The Canadian Press.
He separately told Detroit's Fox 2 to expect a deal in "probably a couple of months," then added it "could be before the actual election," the Financial Post reported. On Friday, Trump told reporters in Washington that he felt a deal was close and that his team holds "all the cards," according to CTV News.
LeBlanc's office said Canada "remains in constructive dialogue" with the U.S. and will assess the latest tariff measures. "We stand ready to work constructively and in good faith towards a more mutually beneficial trading relationship that respects Canada's interests," the office said in a statement cited by the Financial Post.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday he had spoken with Trump and was "ready to sit down and negotiate when the U.S. is," but only for "a deal that's in the interests of Canadians," the Financial Post reported.
Which Canadian goods face new 50 per cent tariffs?
On Friday, the White House said it would lift some 50 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods and impose 50 per cent tariffs on others. The changes take effect at the end of the month.
Reports of which goods are exempted differ:
- Exempted, per CTV News: seaweed, packing boxes and some plywood sheets.
- Exempted, per Collins, as reported by the Financial Post: plywood, bleached paper, cartons and specialized agricultural machinery.
- Newly tariffed, per CTV News: cocoa powder, vinyl flooring and shampoos, among other goods.
- Newly tariffed, per The Canadian Press: dozens of new products, including Canadian garbage and sewage.
The changes add to a wide range of Canadian goods already facing U.S. tariffs, including metals, lumber and autos, CTV News reported. Beer, liquors and motorcycles are banned outright.
Jean-François Dufresne, chief executive of hardwood flooring producer Preverco, told CTV News the new tariffs on his product could devastate the sector. "Overnight, we're losing 25 per cent of our business," he said. Dufresne has written to Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne requesting a meeting.
Susan Collins, Maine tariff exemptions and the midterms
The tariff changes reportedly came at Collins' request, according to The Canadian Press. Collins, who is running for re-election in November, took credit for the removals and called Canada America's "neighbour, ally, and largest trading partner," CTV News reported.
Maine, a border state, has been hit hard by the dispute. Trump exempted road salt and other products last month after a request from Collins, the Financial Post reported, and Canada amended its own retaliatory duties to remove seafood products.
Hassett said helping Maine and Alaska fisheries has been "almost above everything else that we've done at the National Economic Council." The U.S. Department of Agriculture created its first Office of Seafood in April, and the administration unveiled an "America First Seafood Strategy" on Friday.
Troy Jackson, the Democratic Senate candidate in Maine, said in a social media post that Collins "wants credit for bringing a cup of water to put out the fire," according to the Financial Post.
Republicans control both the House and Senate, but polls suggest they could lose one or both chambers on Nov. 3, The Canadian Press reported. The trade war has also weighed on Republicans in Michigan, a battleground and border state where Trump campaigned Sunday.
How the US-Canada trade war escalated in August
Carney's government walked away from formal talks in August after what he called unreasonable last-minute U.S. demands. Washington then imposed tariffs on billions of dollars in Canadian goods, and Ottawa responded with retaliatory tariffs on American products.
Trump negotiated the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement in his first term and called it a great deal, but he has repeatedly said Canada treats the U.S. unfairly.
Ottawa has not said whether it will adjust its retaliatory tariffs once it finishes assessing the new U.S. measures. Washington has not publicly specified what more it wants from Canada.