Canada and the United States “have a lot of work to do” over the next month to resolve its trade issues, Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Tuesday, after asking the U.S. and Mexico to renew the current Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on free trade (CUSMA).
LeBlanc spoke to reporters in Washington after what he called a “positive” meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer alongside Canada’s chief U.S. trade negotiator Janice Charette, where the minister said they presented “a number of specific proposals” that respond to “some longstanding issues that the United States has raised with us.”
LeBlanc would not say what those proposals were, but suggested they “are good in the broader context of the North American economy” and would address trade irritants that have been identified publicly by Greer and other Trump administration officials.
“Sitting with Ambassador Greer in his office, we took the time to talk about specific issues … on which Canada can propose, we think, measures that should give the Americans a lot of comfort,” he said.
“I would say that the conversation today helped the Americans understand our shared commitment to issues like, to use one obvious example, the question around forced labour and the fight against forced labour. It won’t surprise you that we share the concern of the Americans and other economic partners that we need to do everything we can together to face this challenge.”
He said Charette and himself also raised Canada’s ongoing opposition to Trump’s tariffs on steel, aluminum, autos, lumber and other Canadian sectors, which Ottawa is looking to reduce.
“We had an opportunity to take stock of progress that had been made over the last number of weeks on a series of technical issues,” LeBlanc said.
Charette added the meeting was focused on trying to resolve those outstanding trade issues rather than initiative formal talks leading up to the scheduled CUSMA review, which the U.S. has already begun with Mexico.
“We’re not waiting for any kind of official process or anything to do those (formal CUSMA talks),” she said. “We’re doing that work and getting those things resolved. And then when the (U.S.) folks and the Mexicans are at a point where they can turn to us, we’ll be ready.”
Get daily National news
The meeting was held after LeBlanc’s office on Tuesday released a letter he penned to his counterparts in the U.S. and Mexico, saying Canada was prepared to renew CUSMA for another 16 years as negotiations move toward a July 1 deadline.
“This Agreement is highly beneficial to each of our countries and to the integrated North American economy,” Leblanc said in the letter.
“The growth and success brought forward by our historic trilateral trade agreement is why I am confirming that Canada recommends renewal of the agreement for another sixteen years.”
LeBlanc told reporters he discussed that letter with Greer in their meeting, but wouldn’t say how Greer responded.
“I remain optimistic about the work that we can do with the Americans,” he said. “But July 1 is a date where our trading partners will have something to say about (whether to renew CUSMA), and we have a lot of work to do between now and July 1.”
The CUSMA review sets up a three-way choice for each country to make. They can renew the deal for another 16 years, withdraw from it or signal both non-renewal and non-withdrawal — which would trigger an annual review process that could keep negotiations going for up to a decade.
LeBlanc noted Greer has raised that annual review option privately as well as publicly.
Canada, he added, will continue to emphasize the importance of CUSMA for the strength of the North American economy.
-
![]()
Gordie Howe International Bridge open delayed over ‘outstanding issues’ -
![]()
‘My daughter is gone’: Mother alleges ChatGPT failed her family, files lawsuit -
![]()
Toronto police officer dead after gunfire exchange during search warrant execution in North York -
![]()
Grok AI broke Canada’s laws, created 6K sexual deepfakes per hour, privacy commissioner says
“I reiterated to Ambassador Greer what the prime minister had said in New York last week, that a strong, prosperous Canadian economy is good for North America,” he said, “and we discussed how we can work together on a number of issues that strengthen the competitiveness of the North American economy.”
Under the current CUSMA framework, the same agreement regulates all free trade between all three countries, dictating virtually all trade on the continent.
However, the U.S. and Mexico already completed their first round of bilateral negotiations last week, and more discussions are scheduled for later this month.
The United States is engaging in “bifurcated” trade talks with both Canada and Mexico as the review deadline for renewed talks on CUSMA approaches next month, Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Tuesday morning.
U.S. negotiators have issues with both Canada and Mexico, Carney said, that they plan to navigate separately.
“There’s a series of issues, technical issues, that they have with Mexico, they have with us, which is why there’s a bifurcated discussion,” Carney told reporters ahead of a cabinet meeting in Ottawa Tuesday.
Washington has raised “30 issues or so” with Canada and almost 60 with Mexico, Carney added.
LeBlanc said he would not get into the discussions the U.S. and Mexico have had or how they were impacting negotiations between Canada and Washington.
“I think all of us know that the road to conclusions in these conversations is sometimes not a straight line. You can suddenly hit clear air turbulence when you don’t expect it, and sometimes you can have a very smooth ride with no turbulence,” he said.
“I remain optimistic that we’ll focus on the latter.”
Earlier Monday, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre accused Carney of “hiding from the negotiating table for the last six months while the Mexicans have been eating our lunch.”
He said he has no expectations that LeBlanc’s meeting with Greer will achieve anything.
You lost me at Liberal Leblanc ….elbows up broke ass Canadians
Leblanc was a Cabinet Minister under Trudeau and willingly went along with all the destructive pounder under the Trudeau regime.
LeBlanc is a serial loser every government position he held for thr past twenty years have failed expect him to achieve nothing and then be happy if the US give us any kind of deal.
Leblanc looked like a deer in headlights today and is absolutely useless also.
You two fools have been preaching this damned tune for a long long time. Meanwhile Canada and its economy is tanking. Because of you useless Liberals.
Absolute amateur hour by Leblanc and Carney
Canada is so serious about forced labour, that they refuse to specifically acknowledge that it is happening in China. I guess we’ll see how good Mark Carney’s negotiating skills are after he spent the last year sabatoging any progress on trade talks with the U.S..
Leblanc has accomplished nothing yet again. Just another free trip to Washington. Greer must be laughing.
Canada’s Government is like a kid with zero accountability…
It’s never their fault, its always outside of their control, its about the narrative, not the facts.
They spent the last 12 months demonizing the U.S. and now that we are in a recession, they say “make america great again” and want to renew…
How does any country take us seriously?
Carney pissed off Trump with his stupid Davos speech that all the L I b t a r d s on here swooned over, we will get nothing from the US now expect Carney to do some serious brown nosing to get any kind of deal !!!
Total laziness by Canada and Leblanc. They just want it renewed for another 16 months as there Elbows Up approach has been a total flop so far.
I have no confidence with either Carney or Leblanc. They should hire Stephen Harper to get this work accomplished as clearly they can’t. Been now over a year.