OTTAWA — Speaking to reporters in Ottawa on Tuesday, Prime Minister Mark Carney said he spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump this morning, and that the two “agreed to intensify negotiations in the coming weeks.”
The conversation between the two leaders took place amid renewed threats of tariffs on Canadian products by the U.S. president.
On Monday, Trump signed an executive order to impose a new 50 per cent tariff on some Canadian goods, including wine, hockey sticks and cement, for what his administration is characterizing as discriminatory trade policies.
Namely, Trump is taking issue with provincial bans on U.S. alcohol, supply management on dairy and certain tariffs and quotas on cars imported to Canada from the United States.
The new levies will “apply to all covered goods,” according to a senior U.S. administration official speaking in a background briefing with reporters on Monday. This is regardless of whether they’re included in the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), with the president using Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 to impose them.
That measure, which has never been used before, allows Trump to slap tariffs of up to 50 per cent on countries that discriminate against U.S. commerce.
Carney on Tuesday categorized Trump’s latest tariff threat as “a series of trade actions against Canada in violation of our agreement, CUSMA, with the United States and Mexico.”
He also reiterated that Canada’s primary goal is to “focus on what we can control, building strength here at home, supporting each other, buying Canadian, and diversifying partnerships abroad.”
Referencing the new slate of tariffs, Carney said the federal government will explore options for a possible response if and when they come into effect. They’re currently set to come into force in 29 days.
“Also, in parallel, as I just said, that I’ve spoken with the president, we agreed to intensify discussions,” Carney said. “We’ll begin that right away.”
Though Carney himself would not directly say when asked, two sources close to his office tell CTV News that Trump’s new tariffs came as a surprise to him.
Booze bans up to premiers: Carney
Asked whether provinces should put U.S. booze back on the shelves, in light of Trump’s persistent complaints about the move, Carney said that’s up to premiers.
“The provinces individually took those decisions in response to a series of tariffs that were put in place, and also threats to our sovereignty,” Carney said.
He added the people who lives in provinces with booze bans appear to support the measure, and pointed to their “other consumption habits,” namely reducing visits to the U.S. and trying to buy Canadian.
“The decision to change that first and foremost would be taken themselves, each individually, and should only be taken, in my judgment, as part of an overall agreement,” Carney added.
CUSMA, meanwhile, is now subject to an annual review process, after the three countries failed to unanimously agree to a blanket renewal of the agreement earlier this month.
While the U.S. and Mexico are heading into a third round of CUSMA review talks this week, negotiations have been stalled between Canada and the United States.
In Monday’s briefing, a senior U.S. administration official said while there is no timeline for formal negotiations to begin, they said “substantive discussions” have been happening.
And, in an interview with CNBC on Tuesday, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said he will keep “talking to my counterparts in Canada.”
“Sometimes you have to take trade action to incentivize those actions, and sometimes you take an action that leads to a better negotiation. In the end, we will see where it leads,” Greer said.
On Tuesday, Carney said the ramped up talks will begin “right away.”
“This is part of the negotiation,” he said. “The first objective is to get a comprehensive agreement that benefits obviously both countries that’s consistent with CUSMA as it is, and CUSMA as it will be, and we’ll work towards that.”
With files from CTV News’ Stephanie Ha