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<\/p>\nThe Trump administration’s top trade negotiator on Wednesday disputed Ottawa’s assertion that last-minute demands from the U.S. derailed a trade deal between the two countries, saying Canadian negotiators’ concerns about the deal’s “implementation” led Ottawa to pull the plug.<\/p>\n
In an interview with CBC News, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the Canadian side had new requests when his counterpart, Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc, returned from Ottawa after the tentative deal was struck on Aug. 18.<\/p>\n
“We had agreed to, as I’ve shared before in the press, really the best deal available to any country on the planet with respect to Canada,” Greer told CBC News chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton in his first one-on-one interview with a Canadian news outlet since trade talks broke down on Friday.<\/p>\n
“When [LeBlanc] came back, they had some additional views. They had some additional requests. They had some additional things that were too much for the United States.”<\/p>\n
The ambassador said it wasn’t clear when the two countries might return to the negotiation table. He confirmed he and LeBlanc were not in contact as of Wednesday.<\/p>\n
“I would say we don’t have open channels right now,” Greer said. “I have a good relationship with Minister LeBlanc, but right now, I think the Canadian side is talking about their next steps.”<\/p>\n
WATCH | U.S. trade rep on whether discussions might resume:<\/p>\n
What will it take to resume Canada-U.S. trade negotiations?<\/p>\n
In a Canadian exclusive interview, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told CBC News chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton that the path to resume trade negotiations is unclear.<\/p>\n
The remarks from Greer, the cabinet member in charge of delivering the president’s tariff regime, make clear that the two countries disagree as to which is to blame for the breakdown in negotiations. Prime Minister Mark Carney was first to introduce the notion that last-minute changes scuttled the agreement<\/a>, but said it was the U.S. that tried to make “unfair, uneconomic” adjustments that “called into question the reliability of any deal.” <\/p>\n The White House has said Canada turned down a deal that would’ve included cuts to existing tariffs on steel, aluminum, lumber and Canadian-made automobiles. <\/p>\n On the topic of retaliation, Greer didn’t rule out another tit-for-tat response from the U.S. after Canada announced dollar-for-dollar counter-tariffs against hundreds of American products<\/a> to take effect after Labour Day. The levies are in response to the United States’ latest round of tariffs, which began last weekend.<\/p>\n “If there’s further retaliation from the Canadian side, of course, we’re not going to just sit down and take that. Our view is, ‘Don’t retaliate,'” he said, speaking outside the White House. “I know how people are feeling in Canada and what they think. It’s unfortunate, but it is what it is.”<\/p>\n At a news conference on Saturday, Carney said the deal proposed by the U.S. ultimately would’ve encroached on Canada’s ability to pursue trade agreements with other countries, threatened key industries and undermined French language protections.<\/p>\n “A good deal [became] a deal we would not accept,” the prime minister said<\/a>.<\/p>\n Neither government has released the text of the draft agreement, and both LeBlanc and Greer have cited confidentiality in response to questions around wider details.<\/p>\n Greer said the White House was prepared to lower the tariff on the majority of steel Canada sent to the United States from 50 per cent to 25 per cent. It would have been subject to a tariff-rate quota system, a provision meaning only a portion of steel imports receive that lower rate.<\/p>\n WATCH | Carney’s full remarks on Saturday: FULL SPEECH | Carney explains why Canada suspended trade talks with U.S.<\/p>\n Prime Minister Mark Carney explained why the government chose not to sign a trade deal with American counterparts as U.S. President Donald Trump’s 50 per cent tariffs on almost $30 billion of Canadian goods are in effect. ‘We were not prepared to compromise Canada’s sovereignty or undermine our key industries,’ Carney said.<\/p>\n On Canadian-made vehicles, Greer said the rate would’ve been reduced from 25 per cent down to 15 per cent,\u00a0with “the possibility of going down to seven per cent.” <\/p>\n Sources told CBC News the auto tariff could have been reduced further by having more U.S. content, taking the effective rate down to 7.5 per cent. The Canadian side believed that offer was still not good enough, sources noted.<\/p>\n Greer denied that the White House had asked for a say in the trade deals Canada cuts with other countries. He said the administration wanted to prioritize co-operation, referring to the Fortress North America concept floated most prominently by Ontario Premier Doug Ford.<\/a><\/p>\n “We didn’t have any text like that,” Greer said Wednesday. “We talked about, let’s co-ordinate on a bilateral basis, right? It wasn’t, ‘Canada shall’ or anything like that. It’s, ‘Let’s talk about this.'” <\/p>\n WATCH | U.S. trade rep on communication with his Canadian counterpart: No open channel with Canada’s trade minister, Greer says<\/p>\n In a Canadian exclusive interview with CBC News chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said there isn\u2019t currently any open channels of communication between him and Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc.<\/p>\n On the issue of discoverability of French content on streaming services, Greer said it had been “highlighted” by the White House but not as a dealbreaker.<\/p>\n “President Trump, myself and the U.S. government recognizes the importance and sensitivity of the French language in Canada, in Quebec, in the Maritimes and some [other] areas. We know that this is quite sensitive and quite important,” he said of French language protections.<\/p>\n “There is no way we would let a good deal go by for something like this. This is not something where we push hard or condition or red line. It’s like the farthest thing from a red line.”<\/p>\n The new measures and deteriorating political rhetoric<\/a> from both sides of the border were a marked departure from the conciliatory tone last week, when the two countries appeared closer than ever to an agreement after months of tension.<\/p>\n Last week, Greer and his Canadian counterpart appeared shoulder-to-shoulder in front of Greer’s office, assuring the cameras they effectively only needed to cross T’s and dot I’s to get the agreement over the finish line. That night, U.S. President Donald Trump granted a tariff extension so negotiators could keep working for three more days.<\/p>\n But by Friday, the deal had fallen apart. Asked about last-minute demands in an interview with CNN this week<\/a>, Trump said: “That sounds like me.”<\/p>\n Greer said Wednesday that the president didn’t interfere in the negotiations’ dying days and described the remark as “off the cuff.” <\/p>\n WATCH | An economist explains how counter-tariffs affect Canadians: Canada hits back at U.S. with $28B worth of retaliatory tariffs<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1787791813_849_default.jpg\")
Greer outside the White House on Wednesday. (Jonathan Austin\/CBC)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1787791814_737_default.jpg\")
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