Just days before the presumed Aug. 1 agreement deadline, U.S. President Donald Trump said “we haven’t been focused” on reaching a trade deal with Canada.
“We don’t have a deal with Canada,” he told reporters Friday morning during a windy outdoor scrum.
“Aug. 1 is going to come, and we will have most of our deals finished, if not all. We haven’t really had a lot of luck with Canada. I think Canada could be one where they’ll just pay tariffs. It’s not really a negotiation.”
In contrast, Trump said the administration is likely to reach a deal with the EU and that he had solidified the confines of an accord with China. He also celebrated a breakthrough with Australia, which recently relaxed import restrictions that will allow the U.S. to sell it “so much” beef.
His comment comes a day after Dominic LeBlanc, Canada’s minister for trade with the U.S., said he was encouraged following a meeting with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and a bipartisan group of senators. LeBlanc said the closed-door negotiations with the Americans are “complex” and suggested they may not resolve by Aug. 1.
On that day, Trump promised, the U.S. will impose a 35 per cent tariff on Canadian goods crossing the border. Those fees could go even higher if Canada further retaliates. However, they’re limited to the minority of goods not covered under the two countries’ existing free trade deal, which Trump signed in his first term and vowed to renegotiate next year.
Canada is also bearing the weight of Trump’s tariffs on steel, aluminum and automobiles, and will be affected by copper duties that are also expected to kick in on Aug. 1.
Trump’s deals
Trump has published several letters addressed to world leaders revealing the tariffs he intends to impose on their imports.
“When those letters go out – they’re a page and a half – that means they have a deal,” he said. “That is a contract, essentially.”
One reporter had asked Trump if he thought the letters would bring some market certainty, but the president suggested negotiations have continued even after the documents were sent.
Japan and the EU got letters, “and they came back and negotiated a deal.”
Canada got one that revealed Trump’s 35 per cent levy planned for Aug. 1, but Ottawa’s negotiators haven’t yet found common ground with their U.S. counterparts.
Following Thursday’s visit, LeBlanc said Ottawa is still working towards the Aug. 1 deadline, but that negotiators are willing to miss it if it means inking a better deal later on.
CTV News reached out to the Office of the Prime Minister, which said it would not be commenting on Trump’s statement at this time. LeBlanc is expected to return to Washington next week.
With files from CTVNews.ca’s Spencer Van Dyk
