 "Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney walks with US President Donald Trump. File image/ AP")
US President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney would most likely speak “over the next number of days” after the US put a 35% tax on products not covered by the US-Mexico-Canada trade deal, a Canadian official said on Sunday.
Dominic LeBlanc, the Canadian cabinet minister in charge of US-Canada trade, told CBS News’ “Face the Nation” that recent negotiations had “encouraged” him and that an agreement to reduce tariffs was still possible.
“We’re encouraged by the conversations with Secretary Lutnick and Ambassador Greer, but we’re not yet where we need to go to get the deal that’s in the best interest of the two economies,” LeBlanc said, referring to US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
The trade minister said he expected Carney and Trump to speak “over the next number of days.”
“We think there is an option of striking a deal that will bring down some of these tariffs provide greater certainty to investment,” LeBlanc said.
Washington attributed Friday’s tariff announcement in part to Canada’s inability to combat fentanyl smuggling. It was the latest blow in Trump’s months-long tariff war, which began shortly after he returned to office this year.
According to Carney, Canada accounts for under 1% of US fentanyl imports and is working hard to cut numbers even more.