The U.S. ambassador to Canada says there is plenty of blame to share on both sides of the border for the souring of the Canada-U.S. relationship and the deterioration of the free trade deal between the two countries.
Pete Hoekstra says “irritants” and “tensions” need to be addressed before talks can resume on renewing the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), which was not extended before the July 1 deadline.
The ambassador told CTV Your Morning Vancouver on Thursday that “some of the language your (Canadian) premiers have used” has been unhelpful in repairing the formal relationship.
“There’s fault to go around,” Hoekstra said of the breakdown between the two sides.
“Obviously, the two negotiating teams have not gotten to a point where they believe that it’s time to get down to the nitty gritty and work it out,” he added.
“We’re well on the way with Mexico. We’ve had two in-depth sessions. We’ve got the third scheduled this month. Sessions four and five are scheduled for August.”
While Hoekstra acknowledged he is not directly involved in the day-to-day trade and tariff negotiations, he said he is surprised talks with Canada have stalled.
“I didn’t think it’d take this long,” he said. “I thought we’d be there already.”
Tariff deal ‘got blown up’
Last week, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the U.S. is not renewing CUSMA “in its current form,” but the agreement will remain in place as negotiations continue.
The trade agreement has shielded Canada from many of the U.S. president’s tariffs, although separate sectoral tariffs on things like steel and automobiles still apply.
Trump had already signalled he was not looking to renew the deal with Canada and Mexico, a decision B.C. Premier David Eby called “a bit bizarre” given efforts on all sides to reach an agreement.
“To be blunt, this sequel to ‘The Art of the Deal’ is pretty lame,” Eby told reporters on June 10, referring to Trump’s 1987 book.
“Let’s just get on with business, let’s have both sides respect the agreement, and let’s continue with the existing CUSMA agreement,” the premier added.
But the U.S. ambassador says negotiators have not made enough progress yet.
“I talk to our negotiators, and right now there hasn’t been enough progress on what we call ‘irritants,’” Hoekstra said.
“What the United States has done — and Canada has done the same thing — we’ve identified a series of things that have cropped up over the last six years that we believe distort the trade relationship between the United States and Canada,” he added.
“They need to be addressed, and then we can take a look at extending, modifying USMCA, and that has not happened at this point.”
Canada and Mexico have publicly said they hope the agreement, in its current form, will remain in place for another 16 years. The U.S., however, has argued the deal needs to be updated and that the current version has run its course.
On separate tariff discussions, Hoekstra said Canada and the U.S. were close to reaching an agreement last fall that would have eased tariff pressures on industries including steel, aluminum, oil, uranium and auto parts.
“That deal got blown up,” he said. “And it didn’t get blown up by us.”
‘Tremendous co-operation’
Despite the tensions, the ambassador says there is plenty to celebrate in the Canada-U.S. relationship, even as many Canadians continue to boycott U.S. travel and products.
“Take a look at what’s going on right here in British Columbia today and in the last week,” he said.
“We had phenomenal co-operation on FIFA. My understanding is the border crossing between the U.S. and Canada flowed smoothly through the whole FIFA period of time. We were worried about that a year ago when I was here. We looked at it, but everybody came together. The Canadians, the Americans did their job.”
The ambassador said the two sides are also demonstrating “tremendous co-operation” on wildfire mitigation following the 2025 fire season, in which nearly 90,000 square kilometres of Canadian territory burned.
“Our sympathy goes out to the people of British Columbia,” Hoekstra said Thursday as large swaths of the province were once again choked by smoke from wildfires that are threatening communities.
“Just a week ago I had a conference call with Canadians and Americans talking about the fire season, the co-operation, the things that we’re doing together,” he added.
“So there’s lots of positive things. Are there some tensions right now? Absolutely. We’ve got to work through these tariffs and some of these, what we call, ‘irritants’ on trade that have developed over the last six years, but overall there is a lot of stuff that goes on every day that is extremely positive and beneficial to people on both sides of the border.”
Eby reaffirms U.S. booze ban
The B.C. premier met with the ambassador later Thursday for a “productive conversation,” according to a statement from Eby’s office.
“As always, the premier stood up for B.C.’s interests,” the statement said, adding the provincial government would continue its boycott of U.S.-made alcohol in the absence of a deal on tariffs.
“The premier reaffirmed British Columbians’ desire to see Canada and the U.S. re-establish a stronger, more reliable trading relationship, but we won’t bow down and we won’t go back to the way things were before,” the statement said.
“The premier’s priority in all negotiations and in working with Ambassador Hoekstra is to represent British Columbians and their best interests.”