Trump says he’s brokered a ‘very good deal’ with Canada after pausing 50% tariffs

Trump said on Wednesday that farmers and manufacturers in particular are going to be “thrilled” with what he’s agreed to do with Canada.

He said unspecified Canadian tariffs on U.S. goods “are going to be totally eviscerated, down to zero.”

The vast majority of U.S. products already trade into Canada tariff-free, but Ottawa has levied some retaliatory tariffs on U.S. autos, steel and aluminum imports since the outset of the trade war.

Trump pauses 50% tariffs, saying new trade deal reached 

U.S. President Donald Trump has paused 50 per cent tariffs on Canada, saying the two countries have reached a new trade deal that just needs to be finalized. In a statement, Prime Minister Mark Carney said ‘substantial progress has been made.’

Canada also has tariffs on some dairy imports that exceed a set quota. But American producers do not export enough dairy to meet Canadian tariff rate quota thresholds.

Still, Trump said what’s been negotiated is “great for our farmers.”

“Our farmers will no longer be held up, because they were being hurt very badly by Canada,” Trump said.

Trump said the U.S. has agreed to readjust its tariff rates on Canadian autos but didn’t specify by how much.

“They were paying a high number, we’re reducing it a little bit,” he said. “You gotta give something.”

While there are outlines of an agreement, Trump said that it’s “still subject to finalization of documents.”

Carney sees ‘substantial progress’

Prime Minister Mark Carney, meanwhile, said in his own statement there had been “substantial progress” but that “there is important work still to be done.”

“While we continue this work, Canada remains focused on building a stronger, more independent and more competitive economy at home.”

Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc met with his U.S. counterpart in Washington on Wednesday morning for more talks.

LeBlanc and Canada’s chief trade negotiator, Janice Charette, arrived at U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer’s office around 11:15 a.m. ET.

Speaking briefly to reporters on his way in, LeBlanc said the negotiations are still underway on a possible tariff reprieve.

“We have a bit more work we need to do,” he said.

Trump announced late Tuesday he was pausing for three days the threatened 50 per cent tariffs on nearly $30 billion worth of Canadian goods, saying there had been a breakthrough in the negotiations.

According to the text of the proclamation Trump signed, the U.S. is backing down because “Canada has expressed a commitment to remove discriminations or unreasonable and unequal impositions” related to American autos, dairy and liquor. That is a reference to the retaliatory measures Ottawa has taken since Trump first launched his trade war last year, as well as Canada’s supply-managed dairy sector.

Greer, for his part, posted on social media congratulating Trump and touting an agreement he said includes “comprehensive market access for all American goods, economic security commitments, digital trade alignment” and “many important provisions that will continue to protect our market and American workers.”

Few details

The details of what exactly has been brokered — if anything — are scant.

Neither side released any documents stating what each country could give up in return for some concessions.

Beyond Greer’s assertion that there will be changes to some Canadian policies, Trump alluded to a possible revival of the Keystone XL pipeline, a long-defunct project that could carry oil from Alberta to the U.S. Gulf Coast. Trump already signed an executive order in April authorizing the construction of a similar cross-border pipeline.

Trump signs order to revive parts of cancelled Keystone XL pipeline

Trump signs order to revive parts of cancelled Keystone XL pipeline

U.S. President ‌Donald Trump has signed an order authorizing a proposed project to transport Canadian oil across the border as part of an effort to revive parts of the cancelled Keystone XL pipeline. South Bow, the Canadian company behind Keystone XL, is partnering with U.S. company Bridger Pipeline on the proposed project.

The Americans have long demanded U.S. liquor be put back on the shelves of provincially run stores, ending a boycott that has been devastatingly effective. The Trump administration is also pushing for Canada to remove its retaliatory tariffs on U.S. autos and to change how the supply-managed dairy sector allocates quotas.

LeBlanc, meanwhile, has pushed for the U.S. to scrap the threatened 50 per cent levies, called the Section 338 tariffs. He also wants the country to lower the existing Section 232 fees on industrial products like steel, aluminum, autos and lumber.

Carney said his government is working on a deal that will “address outstanding trade issues and deliver greater certainty and real benefits for Canadian businesses, workers, farmers and families.”

— John Paul Tasker