Trump keeps Canada guessing as trade deadline looms

Politico

7 days ago

The face-to-face meetings have mainly featured Lutnick or Bessent riffing off Trump's greatest hits: raising border security issues, complaining about fentanyl smuggling and asking why Canada is treating the U.S. unfairly.
Two of the senior officials familiar with the negotiations say LeBlanc mainly listens as Lutnick rambles off questions like, 'Why aren't you helping more?'
There is said to be no consistency around the table. Trump's team swerves to a new topic every time the two sides meet — from wanting bigger U.S. banks to have a visible presence in Canada, to griping about the border and dairy quotas, a senior government official said.
A spokesperson for the White House defended the status of talks with Canada in a statement, pointing to the existing U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which Trump negotiated during his first term.
'The way this has worked with our trading partners who have secured deals or are making progress towards one is that they came to us with deal offers, that were then refined and negotiated further. The vast majority of trade with Canada, moreover, is already covered under USMCA,' the White House official said in a statement.
Trump's team previously suggested that if higher tariffs on Mexico and Canada go into force, the hike would only apply to goods the Trump administration deems as non-compliant with the existing deal — potentially affecting around 60 percent of trade between the countries.
The Trump administration is pressuring Canada to fix what it sees as lopsided trade, a senior government official familiar with the talks told POLITICO. In the meetings, U.S. officials point to trade irritants in the National Trade Estimate report, which include concerns around Quebec's language laws and Canada's war on plastic.
A second official said it's Canada's strategy to allow the Americans to do all the talking, which they appear happy to do.
The Liberal government has several cards at play, including the Arctic and defense. Trump wants to build a massive missile shield over the continent, but he can't build it without Canada.
'It's really a strategic card,' Nunavut Premier P.J. Akeeagok said last week in Huntsville, Ontario.
The Trump administration has also raised concerns that the Liberal government is whining too much about the tariffs — removing U.S. alcohol from shelves and boycotting America.
'This is a negotiation. So sometimes we say, 'oh, I'm not satisfied. Oh, Canadians are difficult.' Well, of course, yes, we are difficult because we're fighting for Canada,' Carney told reporters on Monday.
The administration has taken particular issue with British Columbia Premier David Eby, a progressive politician, who has been one of Trump's most vocal critics. They think he is too emotional because he often lambastes the president on national networks, three officials told POLITICO, instead of working to resolve trade concerns. The administration had similar concerns with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.