OTTAWA—Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said officials in Ottawa and Washington are engaged in intensive negotiations on a new bilateral economic-and-security deal, and it’s neither in President Trump’s or his interest to let talks drag on through the fall.
“We’ve got more that we need to do before we’re satisfied that we have a partnership that is in Canada’s interest,” Carney said in a broadcast interview Tuesday with the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. “We’ve made a lot of progress.”
Carney’s Liberal government delivered its ceremonial Speech from the Throne, which marks the opening of Parliament after last month’s election. The speech, read by King Charles III, focused on Canada’s sovereignty and the need for an ambitious economic agenda as the country must deal with a protectionist U.S. Trump has imposed hefty 25% tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminum, assembled vehicles and goods that aren’t compliant with the existing U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade pact. Canada has responded with 25% retaliatory tariffs on about $43 billion of U.S. imports, but has since provided exemptions to the automotive and manufacturing sectors to give them time to find new non-U.S. suppliers.
Carney said it’s his goal for the U.S. and Canada to agree on a new bilateral pact in the coming months that removes the hefty tariffs. “I don’t think it’s in either of our nation’s interests for it to drag out,” Carney said.