Canada will not be affected by President Donald Trump’s impending deadline for trade deals. There is an unofficial date of July 21 for an agreement between Washington and Ottawa. However, the U.S. ambassador to Canada said he won’t commit to that deadline for a trade agreement.
Representatives from Washington and Ottawa resumed negotiations on a new trade deal last week, after Prime Minister Mark Carney dropped the digital services tax on big American tech firms.
At the recent G-7 summit in Alberta, President Trump said a deal with Canada is possible, and the date of July 21 was not out of the question. Carney has said he wants a trade deal in place by that date or Ottawa will increase trade countermeasures.
But in a recent interview, U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra wasn’t sure that was going to happen.
“I’m not going to commit to the date. I wouldn’t characterize it as tumultuous. We’re working through some things,” Hoekstra said. “We’ve got some things that we believe will make trade freer, fairer and better for both countries, and that’s okay.”
The two countries have been in talks for months at different levels since Trump imposed tariffs on Canadian products in February. Since then, he’s bumped tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum, as well as the auto sector.
But Hoekstra said in the end, Canada will have to pay something.
“The president has made it clear. I think every country is going to pay some level of tariffs, but the overall agreement, I think, at the end of the day, is going to be good for Canada and good for America,” Hoekstra said.
Hoekstra also said Canada is one of the US’s biggest trading partners, where Carney and Trump have a very good friendship where they talk regularly, and there will be a deal that’s articulated, eventually.
