Canada has offered the Trump administration a package of trade proposals in hopes of preventing 50 percent tariffs that the United States plans to impose in less than two weeks, according to two people familiar with Canada’s stance in the talks with Washington.
The government of Prime Minister Mark Carney is offering specific concessions, including repealing a tariff on U.S.-made autos introduced in retaliation for a similar U.S. measure, according to the two people who were briefed on the negotiations.
The Canadian government hopes to significantly lower current tariffs and has stressed that it will not agree to a piecemeal arrangement, according to the two people who asked not to be named discussing confidential matters.
Speaking to reporters in Quebec on Thursday, Mr. Carney ruled out doing deals just on specific irritants.
“We’re not interested in a very targeted deal,” he said. “We’re interested in a more comprehensive deal, more global deal.”
After months with little discussion between the two countries, meetings resumed last week in Washington and have, at times, included Jamieson Greer, the United States’ trade representative, and Dominic LeBlanc, the Canadian cabinet minister responsible for trade with the United States.
Mr. Trump signed an executive order which, if it comes into effect as planned on Aug. 19, will cover a vast array of Canadian exports, including alcohol. It will not affect oil, natural gas, the fertilizer potash and other natural resources used by American industry.
“As detailed trade discussions between our two countries are ongoing, we will not comment on specifics,” Gabriel Brunet, Mr. LeBlanc’s spokesman, said in a statement. “Canada’s objective remains to reach a comprehensive deal that addresses sectoral tariffs and benefits Canadian workers, farmers and businesses.”
After months of little contact, the two sides have been actively engaged over the last two weeks and are treating Aug. 19 as a serious deadline, the people familiar with the talks said.
Canada is pressing Washington to drop plans for tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian exports and reduce current tariffs of up to 50 percent on Canadian steel, aluminum and autos, the two people said. Canada also wants Washington to commit to renewing the free trade agreement between Canada, the United States and Mexico.
Contrary to some Canadian media reports, the country’s negotiators have not offered to return American wine and spirits to the shelves of government-owned provincial liquor stores, according to one of the people briefed. Mr. Carney has no control over the move, which Mr. Trump has cited as a reason for his latest tariffs.
Instead, the Canadians have told their American counterparts that the boycott by eight of Canada’s 10 provinces will only end if Mr. Carney can present those governments with a satisfactory trade deal, the two people said. That condition has also been attached to resolving American complaints that the provinces discriminate against U.S. companies when awarding contracts.
Canada will not sign any agreement that doesn’t address tariffs on the car industry, a major employer in Ontario, the most populous province, one of the people said.
The Canadian package includes measures to ensure the supply of critical minerals from Canada to the United States, as well as cooperation on energy and defense, one of the people briefed said. The latter may include Canadian participation in Mr. Trump’s proposed “Golden Dome” missile defense system.
Canada is also willing to discuss how it allocates quotas that allow American farmers and dairies to ship duty-free to Canada, another of Mr. Trump’s recent complaints, according to one of the people.
The package of proposals is broadly similar to one Canada presented last October, according to one of the people familiar with the talks. The United States withdrew from negotiations after Ontario aired ads on American television featuring clips of President Ronald Reagan denouncing tariffs.
Canada is looking for a “political agreement” rather than a formal trade treaty with the U.S. administration, one of the people said. Not only would that not require Congressional approval, he said, but it would be much easier to amend under a future administration.
