(OTTAWA, CANADA) – Trade negotiations between Canada and the United States are focusing on all strategic sectors, including autos, as the 19 August deadline approaches for a new wave of American tariffs, Prime Minister Mark Carney has said. Mr Carney said he wants all Section 232 tariffs to be addressed in the talks.
Section 232 is the legislation that President Donald Trump has used to impose tariffs on sectors including aluminium, steel and auto parts. It gives the US president authority to introduce tariffs to protect American industries when the Commerce Department finds a threat to national security.
Canada’s Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc and chief trade negotiator Janice Charette returned to Washington this week for further meetings. Mr Carney said he has been very involved in those discussions. He described the negotiations as real and constructive and said they are happening on a number of issues. He added that now is the time to get tougher, something he said could happen in the days leading up to the deadline.
Mr LeBlanc and Ms Charette met on Tuesday with Jay Timmons, chief executive of the National Association of Manufacturers. Mr LeBlanc also met on Wednesday morning with Kevin Cramer, Republican senator from North Dakota, and with Tennessee Republican senator Bill Hagerty. It remains unclear whether Mr LeBlanc will meet again with his counterpart, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. The two met last week in Washington for discussions that Mr LeBlanc described as comprehensive.
The Globe and Mail reported, citing multiple sources, that the two nations were discussing steel and aluminium export quotas as a way to lower US tariffs on those sectors. Two government sources told CBC News on Wednesday that this does not represent the current state of negotiations. The sources spoke confidentially because of the sensitive nature of the talks.
The planned 50 percent tariffs, set to take effect on 19 August, would apply to roughly five percent of Canadian exports to the United States. The targeted goods range from alcohol to hockey sticks to cement. Mr Greer has previously justified the potential tariffs as part of a broader strategy aimed at reducing the US trade deficit, which reached $1.2 trillion US in 2025, equivalent to roughly £960 billion or €1.1 trillion. Mr Greer told a Senate finance committee hearing last month that the deficit is a national emergency.
Mr Carney has not ruled out retaliation if the additional tariffs come into force. He said last week, however, that he does not see value in using Canadian energy exports as a bargaining chip in the negotiations. Canada has already addressed several trade irritants raised by the Trump administration, including cancelling a planned digital services tax and rolling back a Canadian content levy on streaming companies. Mr Greer acknowledged last month that Canada had withdrawn two major trade irritants but added that the country does not get credit for doing something bad and then undoing it.
Former Quebec premier Jean Charest, who serves on Mr Carney’s advisory committee on Canada US economic relations, said the phone call between Mr Carney and Mr Trump resulted in wider engagement from the US administration in the latest round of talks. Mr Charest described that broader involvement as a good sign.
The value of the roughly five percent of Canadian exports facing the new 50 percent tariff threat is estimated at around $25 billion US annually, equivalent to about £20 billion or €23 billion, based on Canada’s total goods exports to the United States of roughly $500 billion US in 2025. Canada sends about 75 percent of its total exports to the American market. The auto sector alone accounts for roughly $55 billion US of those exports, or £44 billion and €50.5 billion.