By Sumayya
Many sources close to the trade discussions between Canada and the United States share that the main person pushing behind the scenes to start talking again has been U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
Sources in both lands say Lutnick started the new conversations just over 10 days ago, after months of no movement. He has focused the talks around the Section 232 import taxes that apply to steel, aluminum, wood logs, and cars because that is his area of responsibility. If more official negotiations start up again later this week, as two sources say is possible, those discussions could bring back U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and include subjects outside of the Section 232 taxes. Sources say those topics will likely include the Keystone XL pipeline, diesel, and energy sales more broadly.
Lutnick was a disruptive force during the last few days of trade talks between the countries back in August. Sources close to the Canadian talking team say he was responsible for bringing in last-minute demands regarding culture, trade agreements, and cars that ultimately caused the talks to break down in a dramatic way at the very last moment. Canadian government sources say their relationship with Greer during the summer talks was much more respectful and productive.
Lutnick’s outreach to Canada matches — by plan — with growing pressure on Donald Trump before the U.S. midterm elections on Tuesday. Import taxes and the general cost of living have become big problems in certain important U.S. Senate races. This includes the state of Michigan, where the Republican candidate Mike Rogers has publicly spoken against the taxes during his campaign, even though he supported them at first.
In an interview that played Sunday night on the television show 60 Minutes, Rogers said he does not like the import taxes on Canadian goods. He told the program that he has brought up the problem personally with Lutnick. Rogers also said he would be willing to support efforts by Congress to vote against the president on import taxes if that situation ever happens.
In a post on the social media site X on Sunday, Prime Minister Mark Carney described the talks over the last 10 days as helpful discussions. He said he had a good conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump on the future of trade between Canada and the U.S.
Carney wrote that this builds on recent helpful discussions regarding the outline of a trade agreement that would help both sides, create jobs for workers, make things more affordable for families, and completely respect Canada’s languages, culture, and independence. He added that their teams will now be working in the next few weeks to reach that goal.
Trump told reporters Sunday afternoon that they had a general idea of a very good agreement with Canada.
He stated that the U.S. has been losing money for many years with Canada, about 70 to 75 years. Because of this, he said they are now very close to having an agreement. He mentioned he spoke with the prime minister the other day and spoke to him again yesterday, and they have the concept of a deal that is going to be excellent for American farmers, great for the country, and fine for Canada too.
Two sources who were told about the phone calls between the two leaders say the first call lasted 45 minutes and focused mostly on trade. The newest call was also described as long.
Sources on the Canadian side of the talks are still doubtful about the president’s willingness to compromise to get an agreement. However, they say the prime minister does believe Trump is serious about wanting a deal overall.
As for what that agreement might look like, sources say the discussions back in August show what Canadians should expect. Before those talks broke down, the Canadian team had agreed to lower taxes for Canadian steel below a certain amount, a lower tax on aluminum, and Canadian provinces putting American alcohol back on store shelves.
One major difficult point was cars, which is part of the reason why the talks stopped. The U.S. offer was to lower taxes to 15 percent, but only for cars and light trucks. Canada wanted that tax reduction to include larger trucks built in Canada. Sources say there has been some movement on this topic during the discussions over the last 10 days, but they expect it will stay a hard part of the negotiations.
