Trade talks in two acts: Canada-U.S. poised to negotiate in stages

Alexander Panetta · CBC News

· Posted: May 09, 2025 4:59 PM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

All signs constituent to Canada and the United States holding commercialized negotiations successful 2 abstracted phases — with immoderate present connected contiguous irritants, and the remainder adjacent year.

The process is inactive taking shape. But the two-step thought is emerging successful comments pursuing this week's gathering betwixt Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump.

The archetypal phase? A fast-track propulsion to easiness tensions implicit tariffs and stabilize commercialized ties, anchored successful the broader Canada-U.S. information relationship.

This lets some sides sidestep the thornier ceremonial reappraisal of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), which isn't legally scheduled to start until adjacent year.

Based connected Trump's ain comments, it's not adjacent wide he's wedded to preserving CUSMA arsenic a three-country pact, fto unsocial having assessed the method feasibility of speeding up its negotiating timeline.

Canada's ambassador to the U.S. told CBC News that the countries aren't really looking astatine the broader North American pact close away.

"Whether there's a anticipation of that [CUSMA review] being precocious is not truly nether treatment close now," Kirsten Hillman said connected Friday. 

"Right present we're focusing connected the meeting, and the agreement, betwixt the premier curate and the president, which is to person immoderate bilateral discussions to travel up with an statement that works for some countries.

"To absorption connected a Canada-U.S. arrangement."

She's been successful interaction with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, portion Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc has been speaking with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

Comments from the U.S. broadside reenforce the thought that Washington sees bilateral deals with idiosyncratic countries arsenic a greater precedence than multi-country agreements.

"I don't adjacent cognize if we're going to beryllium dealing with USMCA," Trump said during his Oval Office gathering with Carney, utilizing the U.S. acronym for the North American commercialized pact. 

"We're dealing much with concepts close now."

Look to the U.K. talks

So what mightiness specified concepts look like? The U.S. ambassador to Canada pointed arsenic a template to this week's U.S.-United Kingdom agreement, an informal statement that's not embedded successful law.

Some of the main topics of that negotiations lucifer those expected to beryllium connected the array successful Canada-U.S. talks, Pete Hoekstra told the National Post.

In an interrogation with the Post, helium mentioned the elimination of tariffs connected U.K. alloy and aluminum, which Canada volition surely seek. He past mentioned U.S. attempts to destruct the U.K.'s digital-services taxation — still unresolved.

He added, "All I cognize is they're covering the aforesaid issues."

As for wherefore the U.K. has already concluded these negotiations but Canada hasn't, Hoekstra called it a priority, but said Canada's predetermination slowed things down.

The countries person since begun mapping retired the basal architecture of however these negotiations volition unfold. 

"Now begins the framework," Hoekstra said.

The information constituent Carney raised

It was Carney's thought to necktie commercialized to a broader Canada-U.S. speech astir security. The main goal: To support Canadian goods from tariffs connected national-security grounds.

What mightiness that look like? 

Take the illustration of Canada's No. 1 astir lucrative export: oil. Former Conservative person Erin O'Toole has suggested guaranteeing the U.S. definite volumes per twelvemonth astatine discount prices — in different words, formalizing what already happens.

As for Canada's No. 2 export, autos, Carney made a cryptic remark portion successful Washington. He alluded to Canada being portion of the solution to Trump's interest astir Asian parts imports.

One auto-industry official, Flavio Volpe, said Canada could question alleviation from tariffs by taking respective steps to assuage Trump connected nationalist information grounds.

They could see preferred-customer agreements with the U.S. for coveted commodities — critical minerals, uranium, and lipid and gas. 

It could lucifer agreements Canada signed with Germany and its car companies 3 years ago, said Volpe, caput of Canada's nationalist auto-parts makers' association. Canada, helium said, could besides warrant to support definite Chinese parts retired of North American proviso chains.

These are the sorts of conversations astir to begin. 

"You could bash that abstracted from CUSMA."