Prime Minister Mark Carney said he has not spoken with Democrats in the U.S. about whether the party — which is set to take control of Congress in January after the midterm blue wave — could pursue legislation to get rid of tariffs on Canada.
“The short answer is no, I haven’t,” he told reporters at an unrelated news conference Friday.
“Obviously we welcome any moves to restore a free trading arrangement between Canada and the United States, which is in the interests of American families struggling with affordability, in the interest of American workers looking for good high-paying jobs and stability. And it’s fundamentally in the interests of Canadians and we will continue to work with the Americans to get a deal for Canada.”
The Section 232 and Section 338 tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump on Canada are done under executive orders, not legislation, however, meaning even with Democratic control of Congress, that power remains with Trump who has shown no inclination to remove them.
The Democrats took the House and the Senate in a sweeping win of the midterms Tuesday, reigniting questions around the U.S.-Canada trade relationship.
Since his win of the Senate seat in Michigan, senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed has not been shy to share his feelings on the trade war between Canada and the U.S., calling it “insane” in a post-win media interview.
El-Sayed is not the only newly elected Democrat who is seeking to change the American trade agenda. Representatives in Oregon, Massachusetts and Vermont have publicly spoken about wanting to see the tariffs on Canada repealed.
But these promises are just “symbolic,” Carlo Dade, the director of international policy and New North America Initiative at the University of Calgary, told Global News.
Get breaking National news
Trump will soon be considered a lame duck president as the legislative powers are overtaken by the Democrats, but he still holds executive powers.
The sweeping 50 per cent Section 338 tariffs on more than $20 billion of Canadian products were imposed via executive order, not Congress.
In April 2025, the Senate voted 51 to 48 to pass a joint resolution aimed at ending the national emergency declaration used to justify the tariffs on Canada, but ultimately that did nothing.
The Democrats have 54 seats in the U.S. Senate.
Do the Democrats want tariff-free trade?
Dade said the other question is whether the newly elected Democrats would end the tariffs on Canada even if they could.
“When we think about Democrats, we’re also thinking about Democrats as we understand them. We’re thinking about Bill Clinton, thinking about Hillary Clinton, Obama,” he said.
But that might not be the type of Democrats that will soon hold some powers, he added.
Dade said there could be up to 10 Democrats who are also members of the external organization Democratic Socialists of America, which is a progressive populist group which endorses candidates running for political office who align with the group’s goals and values like seeking universal healthcare.
He said some DSA members oppose tariffs, but they remain “America first” and are likely to favour protectionist policies, as many members of the Democrats already do.
“Protect jobs, protect workers, be the working class in the U.S.,” he said.
“The shift in Democrats may be good for us in some issues, but not all.”
Comments
Want to discuss? Please read our Commenting Policy first.