Canada’s trade minister says the U.S. is still negotiating “in good faith” despite new tariffs

Canada says the U.S. hasn’t walked away from trade talks, even after new tariffs were slapped on Canadian exports.

This came straight from Dominic LeBlanc, Canada’s trade minister, during an interview on CBS’ Face the Nation on Sunday.

According to CBS, Dominic said President Donald Trump is still “negotiating in good faith” and talks aren’t dead. Dominic expects Trump and Prime Minister Mark Carney to speak in the next few days.

The tariffs went into effect last Thursday. They hit products that aren’t covered under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. That deal, negotiated by Trump during his first term, still protects a large part of Canada’s economy.

But not everything is off the hook. The new levies are putting real pressure on Canada’s steel and aluminum industries, as Trump’s administration continues to push for more domestic manufacturing.

Dominic didn’t deny the impact. He said both countries should be able to keep supplying each other “in a reliable, cost-effective way” that keeps jobs going in both economies.

Canada tries to protect trade despite political friction

Dominic flew to Washington last week and stayed there for several days to meet with senior officials at the White House. He said the meetings were productive, even though the tariffs had already gone live.

He pointed to the decades-long economic relationship between the two countries, referencing the original free trade agreement from the Reagan era. He said the U.S. and Canada “build things together.”

That statement came as Dominic tried to make the case that the two economies are deeply connected. He said, “That’s why it’s difficult in this relationship when so much is integrated.” Dominic said the shared supply chains make it hard to fully separate the two sides, and that’s part of why Canada is still talking.

He also said Canada understands why Trump wants to protect national security, but still wants to find a way to make a trade agreement that works for both countries.

He said, “We understand and respect totally the President’s view in terms of the national security interest. In fact, we share it.” But he also pointed out that any deal must keep jobs alive on both sides of the border. Dominic framed the conversation as a search for a structure that protects critical industries in both countries without blowing up the trade flow.

Trump’s social media post throws in a new twist

Late last week, Trump posted on his platform that Mark Carney’s support for recognizing Palestinian statehood could get in the way of a deal. Trump wrote that the pledge makes it “very hard for us to make a Trade Deal with them.” That post added a political wrinkle to what had been mostly economic talks.

Dominic didn’t directly respond to the comment during his CBS appearance. But he didn’t change his tone either. He kept saying there’s still room for progress and repeated that Canada wants to keep things moving.

At the White House, Kevin Hassett, who leads the National Economic Council, gave his own update. He said Sunday on NBC that the new tariff rates are “more or less locked in,” though he added that there might still be “some dancing around the edges” when it comes to the fine print. Hassett confirmed that the reciprocal rates would kick in the following week for any country that didn’t have a deal in place, Canada included.

He also said that no amount of negative market reaction would push Trump to change his position, unlike what happened in April when the “liberation day” tariffs triggered backlash. This time, Hassett said, “The markets have seen what we’re doing and celebrated it. And so I don’t see how that would happen. I would rule it out. Because these are the final deals.”

So far, Canada hasn’t threatened retaliation. Dominic is keeping the focus on economic cooperation, and Carney hasn’t addressed the Palestine comment publicly. The talks remain tense but active.

Both sides know that pulling the plug on this relationship could cause real damage, especially to the industries now caught in the crossfire.

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