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\t<\/a><\/p>\n\n\tBy
\n\tDavid Reevely and Laura Osman\n\t<\/p>\n
\t The Logic spoke to several industry sources who have been briefed on the talks so far, which offer clues about the complexity of the discussions and, potentially, the shape of things to come.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018They\u2019re all important\u2019<\/p>\n The day after Trump announced<\/a> new 50 per cent tariffs on a wide range of Canadian goods, Prime Minister Mark Carney said<\/a> he and the president agreed to \u201cintensify\u201d trade negotiations. He also made clear that Canada was seeking a comprehensive, lasting deal that would address four sectors hit with Section 232 tariffs: steel, aluminum, autos and forestry products. \u201cWe don\u2019t want a partial agreement. We want something that addresses those sectors as well, so that is a viable approach going forward,\u201d Carney told reporters July 21.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re not trying to pick winners and losers among the various industries,\u201d Dennis Darby, CEO of the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, said in an interview. As a member<\/a> of Carney\u2019s Advisory Committee on Canada-U.S. Economic Relations, Darby has been briefed on the talks. \u201cThey\u2019re all important to Canada,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re all important to the U.S.\u201d<\/p>\n The booze ban<\/p>\n The ban on the sale of U.S. alcohol in several provinces is one of the reasons for the new 50 per cent tariffs under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930. Greer had listed<\/a> lifting the bans as one of the conditions for renewing the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA). It has been a key demand in current talks, yet a concession that premiers will not grant easily. They were, after all, a response to Trump\u2019s original tariffs that launched the trade war last year. Carney said last month that any decision to resume sales of U.S. alcohol would be up to the provinces that removed it from the shelves of their liquor stores\u2014and that it would come as part of an overall deal. Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who has repeatedly urged<\/a> Ottawa to go further, told<\/a> reporters Thursday he would be \u201cmore than happy\u201d to let U.S. booze back in exchange for a fair deal.<\/p>\n Jean Simard, president of the Aluminum Association of Canada, told The Logic that is why any relief from Section 232 tariffs needs to be significant. Simard, who is also on the advisory committee, said Canada\u2019s negotiating team has told the U.S. that Ottawa cannot ask the provinces to move on the liquor ban, or protectionist procurement policies, without meaningful concessions on those levies. \u201cGoing in, the U.S. understands this,\u201d Simard said. \u201cThere\u2019s no way they can expect Canada to have domestic support if there\u2019s not enough comfort provided.\u201d<\/p>\n Comprehensive, not identical<\/p>\n Even though Canadian negotiators went into the talks insisting on addressing Section 232 tariffs on steel, aluminum, autos and lumber, Simard said negotiators are not expecting an across-the-board solution. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be asymmetrical depending on each sector because they each have their own industrial footprint and pricing dynamics.\u201d Discussions on dairy, another longtime irritant<\/a> for Trump, are particularly technical. Simard and Darby both said the issue is not about Canada\u2019s supply management system writ large, but how the quotas for how much U.S. producers can sell to Canada are allocated.<\/p>\n Another industry source, who spoke to The Logic on the condition of anonymity to discuss matters they were not authorized to talk about publicly, shared what they were told of Canada\u2019s formal proposal on autos. The source said Canada offered to rescind its counter-tariffs on U.S. autos in exchange for reducing the current 25 per cent tariff to something lower than the 15 per cent rate that Japan and South Korea secured in their deals. That proposal, the source said, would also have the tariff apply only to the content of the vehicle that originated outside the U.S., Canada or Mexico. That would bring it more in line with CUSMA.<\/p>\n Save the date<\/p>\n Another key Canadian goal going into this round of negotiations, Simard said, was to get the U.S. to formally launch talks for the renewal of CUSMA, also known as the USMCA. Greer has held several rounds of bilateral talks with Mexico, but not Canada. On July 1, Greer said<\/a> the Trump administration would not agree to extend the trilateral deal \u201cin its current form,\u201d but the U.S. could still decide to renew before it expires a decade from now.<\/p>\n Mind the \u2018cliff\u2019<\/p>\n
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