August 19, 2026<\/a><\/p>\nCanadian Prime Minister Mark Carney was less definitive, saying “substantial progress has been made” towards a comprehensive trade deal, but “there is important work still to be done.”<\/p>\n
Ottawa and Washington have held intense negotiations on revising their existing deal, the United States-Canada-Mexico Agreement (USMCA), which Trump signed and praised during his first term but now says needs to change.<\/p>\n
The US Trade Representative’s office said on X that the pact between Washington and Ottawa is set to “include comprehensive market access for all American goods, economic security commitments, digital trade alignment” and other provisions.<\/p>\n
A proclamation by Trump to pause the duties added that the suspension came about as “Canada has expressed a commitment to remove the discriminations or unreasonable and unequal impositions at issue.”<\/p>\n
Carney said the prospective deal aims to “address outstanding trade issues and deliver greater certainty and real benefits for Canadian businesses, workers, farmers and families.”<\/p>\n
‘Discriminatory treatment’\u00a0<\/p>\n
Trump had signed orders for the 50-percent duties last month, with the White House alleging “discriminatory treatment” by Canada against US alcohol, automobile and dairy products.<\/p>\n
The new tariffs would cover products such as wine, hockey sticks and cement.<\/p>\n
They target around 5.5 percent of Canada’s exports to the United States, worth about $20 billion, Oxford Economics estimates.<\/p>\n
While this only poses a “modest” negative risk to Canada’s economy, Oxford Economics said in a recent report that the duties would “affect central Canada’s manufacturing sector much more severely.”<\/p>\n
Canadian negotiators have been in Washington to push for a deal to avoid the new tariffs and also secure relief on Trump’s sector-specific duties — which have battered Canada’s auto, steel, lumber and aluminum industries.<\/p>\n
Ottawa reportedly offered concessions like pressuring provinces to put US alcohol and wine back on their shelves.<\/p>\n
Without going into details, Trump added in his Truth Social post: “The great Keystone XL Pipeline, long ago killed by Sleepy Joe Biden, may be awoken from the grave!”<\/p>\n
Trump has previously called for the revival of the controversial project opposed by environmental activists, which was blocked under his predecessor Biden.<\/p>\n
Political concerns\u00a0<\/p>\n
“It’s not unusual for a trade negotiation to go right up to the deadline,” former US commerce official Christopher Padilla told AFP.<\/p>\n
He expects that the Trump administration threatened new tariffs to try and win early concessions from Canada as the countries negotiate new terms for the USMCA.<\/p>\n
Oxford Economics anticipates that manufacturers who stand to be most impacted include those in the cement, paper, printing, wood, clothing and electronic equipment sectors.<\/p>\n
With the US Supreme Court striking down many of Trump’s global tariffs earlier this year, the president had tapped an untested legal provision for the new duties targeting Canada.<\/p>\n
The US duties will not apply to Canadian energy, potash or goods already facing sector-specific tariffs, but are set to hit products covered by the USMCA.<\/p>\n
Trump’s trade envoy Jamieson Greer previously said the tariffs aimed to “hold Canada accountable” for its retaliation against the United States.<\/p>\n
Provinces have taken US alcohol products off their shelves, he said, and “given better market access to dairy products from the European Union” among other actions, Greer said in July.<\/p>\n
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)<\/p>\n