Dominic LeBlanc told CBS News that he was “encouraged” by recent discussions and believed a deal to bring down tariffs remained an option.PATRICK DOYLE/The Canadian Press
U.S. President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will likely talk “over the next number of days” after the U.S. imposed a 35 per cent tariff on goods not covered by the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, a Canadian official said on Sunday.
Dominic LeBlanc, the federal cabinet minister in charge of U.S.-Canada trade, also told CBS News’ “Face the Nation” that he was “encouraged” by recent discussions and believed a deal to bring down tariffs remained an option.
“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 U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
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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 linked Friday’s tariff announcement in part to what it said was Canada’s failure to stop fentanyl smuggling. It was the latest blow in a months-long tariff war which Trump initiated shortly after returning to power this year.
Carney says Canada accounts for just 1 per cent of U.S. fentanyl imports and has been working intensively to further reduce the volumes.