Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc leaves the Métis Major Projects Summit in Ottawa on Aug. 7. He met with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in Washington on Tuesday.Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press
Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc met with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in Washington on Tuesday in a bid to restart stalled trade talks.
Mr. LeBlanc’s spokesman, Jean-Sébastien Comeau, said the pair had a “constructive, lengthy” morning meeting, which was also attended by Kirsten Hillman, Canada’s ambassador to the U.S., and Marc-André Blanchard, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s chief of staff. The sit-down is the first since Mr. Carney further rolled back retaliatory tariffs on the U.S. last week.
Ottawa drops some retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. in bid to reset trade talks
U.S. President Donald Trump hiked tariffs at the start of August after the two countries missed a deadline imposed by Mr. Trump to reach a deal. Mr. Trump has launched a global trade war and signed a string of deals with countries in Europe and Asia in which those countries agree to accept American tariffs and make other concessions in exchange for Mr. Trump not setting the tariffs even higher.
Canada has so far held out for a better deal, though Mr. Carney has conceded that any agreement will probably include Canada agreeing to some level of tariffs. Talks are believed to centre on steel, aluminum and autos, all of which are subject to hefty tariffs by Mr. Trump. He has said his ambition is to stop having the U.S. import any of these things, a scenario that would deliver a serious blow to Canada’s economy.