Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc says the decision to drop retaliatory tariffs puts Ottawa in a better position to negotiate changes to U.S. President Donald Trump's devastating duties on key sectors.
It also eases tensions ahead of a review of the Canada-U-S-Mexico-Agreement on trade.
Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Friday that Canada will drop some retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products to match American tariff exemptions under the trade agreement.
LeBlanc had been cycling through Washington in July looking for a tariff offramp before Trump increased Canadian tariffs to 35 per cent for imports not compliant with the trade pact.
LeBlanc says Canada's retaliatory tariffs were a significant point of contention for the Trump administration.
He says dropping the duties helps Ottawa sit constructively at the negotiating table to talk about a bilateral agreement ahead of negotiations around the larger trade pact.
LeBlanc says he's talking to Americans about a package that includes investment opportunities in areas such as defence and security that could see pressure taken off of sectors like steel, aluminum and automobiles.
He has been in ongoing contact with U-S Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and says the goal is to have some sort of agreement over the next few weeks or months.