Canada not near trade deal with U.S. before midterms, Carney says

Prime Minister Mark Carney says the government is “not at that position right now” in terms of reaching a trade deal with the U.S. before the midterm elections next week.

Asked by reporters Wednesday why he was willing to entertain a deal before the midterms — and whether Canada was being set up to be the “fall guys” by the U.S. administration if it loses — Carney said they’re after the right deal.

“We’re prepared to have a good deal for Canadians, the right deal for Canadians,” Carney said ahead of a Liberal caucus meeting.

“We think there’s deals that are in the best interest of Canada, first and foremost, but also are in the interest of the United States. That’s always been the case. We’ve been consistent. If those deals present themselves, we will pursue them, but we’re not at that position right now.”

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Carney’s comments come days after Global News reported the once-stalled talks between the two countries were “moving quickly” at the political level, multiple sources with direct knowledge of the negotiations said.

Talks broke down in August, when Canada walked away from negotiations. Carney said after the talks collapsed that the U.S. had made a last-minute push for language that would limit Canada’s ability to enter trade deals with other countries, water down French language requirements, and hurt the country’s struggling auto industry.

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U.S. President Donald Trump responded by putting his previously threatened 50 per cent tariffs on a number of Canadian products into effect, and Ottawa responded with dollar-for-dollar retaliatory tariffs.

1:18 U.S. trade war: ‘Canada has been ripping us off for many, many years,’ Trump says

The most recent discussions have remained at the political level, meaning Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc has been leading the Canadian side, the sources said. Formal negotiations between trade representatives have not taken place yet, according to Canada’s lead negotiator Janice Charette.

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Sources told Global News that the Canadian side views this as a window to reach a deal with Trump’s administration ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections, which polls show could lead to a party shift in at least one half of Congress.

But though talks appear to have restarted, sources still expressed skepticism a deal could get done before Nov. 3, when the midterms are held.

Global News granted the sources anonymity to speak openly about the politically sensitive negotiations.

Meanwhile Reuters, citing four Canadian and two U.S. sources, said the two countries are working on a deal to ease Trump’s tariffs on Canadian steel and autos ahead of those elections.

Whether a deal could be reached is also tentative as there have been deals made in the past by Trump that were only blown up days or weeks later.

The tariffs have also been a sticking point for the U.S. heading into the midterms, with some Republican candidates who previously applauded Trump’s duties against Canada doing an about-face. The Republican candidate in Michigan, Mike Rogers, released an ad early this month asking Trump to end the trade war with Canada which has impacted border states like his.

—with files from Global News’ Mackenzie Gray and Alex Boutillier