U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters as he departs the White House on Thursday. He is traveling to his Balmedie golf courses in Scotland this week.Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
U.S. President Donald Trump says he may not reach a new trade deal with Canada and is suggesting he might instead impose more tariffs on the country unilaterally.
Mr. Trump’s warning follows signals from Prime Minister Mark Carney that the two sides may not be able to reach an agreement by a self-imposed deadline of Aug. 1.
“We haven’t really had a lot of luck with Canada. I think Canada could be one where there’s just a tariff, not really a negotiation,” Mr. Trump told reporters Friday as he left the White House for a trip to Scotland. “We don’t have a deal with Canada.”
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The two countries already have a trade deal, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. But Mr. Trump wants to supersede key parts of that pact with new provisions that would cut back on American imports of autos, steel, aluminum and other goods from Canada.
The negotiations between Washington and Ottawa have also included non-trade-related national security matters, including the border, defence spending and Mr. Trump’s proposed Golden Dome missile defence system.
Since returning to office earlier this year, Mr. Trump has hit Canada with a string of tariffs: 50 per cent on steel and aluminum, 25 per cent on autos, and 25 per cent on any goods traded outside the USMCA, with the exception of oil, gas and potash, at 10 per cent. He has threatened to increase the non-USMCA tariff to 35 per cent if there is no deal by Aug. 1.
Earlier this week, Mr. Carney told reporters that Canada “will not accept a bad deal” just to meet the deadline. “Our objective is not to reach a deal whatever it costs. We are pursuing a deal that will be in the interest of Canadians.”
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Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc delivered a similar message during a visit to Washington for talks with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
“We’ve made progress, but we have a lot of work in front of us,” he told reporters on Capitol Hill Thursday. “All of these deadlines are with the understanding that we’ll take the time necessary to get the best deal.”
Kirsten Hillman, Canada’s ambassador to the U.S., added that the Canadian government will “continue negotiating” until it gets to a satisfactory deal.
Mr. Trump’s targeting of Canada is part of his larger global trade war, which is aimed at reaching deals in which other countries accept more protectionism in the U.S. economy. In his deals with Britain and Vietnam, for instance, both countries have accepted tariffs on their exports to the U.S. in exchange for Mr. Trump not imposing even higher tariffs.
More to come