Canada has given the U.S. and Mexico official notice that it wants the free trade deal between the three countries to be renewed.
In a letter to his American and Mexican counterparts, Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc said the country is seeking renewal of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) when it comes up for review on July 1.
LeBlanc traveled to Washington on Tuesday with Canada’s chief negotiator Janice Charette to meet U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, a member of President Donald Trump’s cabinet.
During a post-meeting news conference at the Canadian Embassy, LeBlanc said he presented Greer with proposals that respond to what he called “long-standing issues that the United States has raised with us,” but declined to reveal any specifics.
“The road to conclusions in these conversations is sometimes not a straight line. You can suddenly hit clear-air turbulence when you don’t expect it,” LeBlanc said.
“Sometimes you can have a very smooth ride with no turbulence. So I remain optimistic that we’ll focus on the latter.”
Greer office made no public statements about the substance of the meeting with LeBlanc.
High on the agenda for Canada in the CUSMA talks is getting relief from Trump’s tariffs, which Prime Minister Mark Carney has characterized as a violation of the trade agreement.
Greer has repeatedly said — including just last week — that tariffs are a new reality that Canada is going to have to live with.
Canada ‘willing to consider’ proposals
All the signals from the White House over the past year and a half indicate that the Trump administration does not want a straightforward renewal of CUSMA and instead wants significant changes to its terms, including on automotive exports and access to Canada’s dairy market.
The Trump administration wants the agreement amended to require that a minimum of 50 per cent of vehicle content must be made in the U.S. to qualify for tariff-free access to the American market.