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CANADA: As Canada’s retaliatory tariffs kick in on nearly $28 billion worth of US products, the evidence suggests the two sides are in communication but aren’t discussing the issues that triggered escalation in the trade war. There’s a call scheduled today between US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and US-Canada Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc. However, Canadian officials expect the conversation will be largely about how the US intends to respond to today’s Canadian retaliation, a source familiar with the discussions told Radio-Canada.
While Canada needs to brace for the possibility that the response will mean even more US tariffs, there are a couple of glimmers suggesting talks are not completely dead in the water. The source also said Canada expects Greer and LeBlanc to discuss “next steps” today.
There were several informal exchanges between the two over the weekend, another source told Radio-Canada.
“Canadian and American officials have maintained ongoing discussions on a range of issues, although formal trade negotiations are not taking place at this stage,” LeBlanc’s press secretary Gabriel Brunet told CBC News in an email on yesterday. So Ottawa and Washington are talking, but they appear to be quite some distance away from sitting down to hammer out a solution to the trade impasse. – Agencies