Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump have been in touch since their Oval Office meeting last month, holding direct talks in recent weeks amid the ongoing trade war between the two countries, officials on both sides of the border have confirmed.
The disclosure of ongoing leader-to-leader negotiations came after U.S. ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra told The Globe and Mail that Carney and Trump have held direct talks since they met at the White House in early May.
Readouts of those calls have not been made public.
Speaking to reporters in the foyer of the House of Commons, Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said it’s normal that Carney and Trump would hold diplomatic conversations during a trade war.
“We won’t negotiate in public, and we will let the prime minister do his work, and we will let all ministers do their work,” Joly added.
In an email to CTV News, U.S. embassy official said, “both the president and the prime minister, or members of their teams, have publicly acknowledged that there are ongoing conversations, but this is not something that will be negotiated in public.”
A spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office would not provide comment.
News of the direct talks comes as the trade war between Canada and the U.S. escalated Wednesday, with Trump hiking tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum to 50 per cent.
Carney and his Liberal government are under pressure from Ontario Premier Doug Ford and the Canadian Steel Producers Association to retaliate.
Ford told reporters Thursday at Queen’s Park that he knows Carney is in “deep, deep” conversations with Trump and his administration.
“The ideal situation is to get a deal, and if that deal does not happen in the next few days, then we’ll have to slap another 25 per cent tariff on top of the existing 25 per cent tariff on aluminum and steel,” Ford said.
With files from CTV News’ Stephanie Ha and Rachel Aiello
