OddsFrontCarney reports progress on Canada-US trade deal after call with Trump
Canada’s prime minister said negotiators from both countries will work in the coming weeks toward a trade agreement, two days before US midterm elections in which tariffs have become a campaign issue.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Sunday that he had held a call with US President Donald Trump and that the two sides are moving toward a future trade deal, Al Jazeera reported. The announcement could help ease friction between the neighbouring countries after months of tariff escalation.
Carney wrote on X that he had a “good conversation” with Trump about the future of Canada-US trade. He added that teams from both countries “will be working in the coming weeks to deliver that outcome”, and said the effort builds on recent constructive discussions about the outlines of a mutually beneficial deal.
The statement came two days before the November 3 midterm elections in the United States, which will determine who controls Congress.
A trade war with deep roots
Al Jazeera noted that relations between Ottawa and Washington have been strained by a trade war in which both governments have placed billions of dollars in tariffs on each other’s goods in recent months. Since returning to office for a second term, Trump has upended global commerce by imposing duties on many American allies, Canada among them. Canada is one of the largest trading partners of the United States.
High-level talks between the two capitals broke down in August, according to Al Jazeera. Trump then applied a 50 percent levy to $20bn worth of Canadian goods, a figure equal to 5.5 percent of Canada’s exports. Ottawa answered with matching duties on a range of American products, among them steel, dairy, household appliances, agricultural machinery, pulp and paper, and electronic goods.
Last week Trump said he expected a new trade agreement with Canada to come together “pretty soon”, though Al Jazeera said he did not offer specifics.
Tariffs and the midterms
The dispute has spilled into American campaign politics. Al Jazeera reported that tariff-related damage to local businesses has become an issue in the midterms, especially in Michigan and Maine, where Republican candidates have come under pressure from voters over the duties.
Canada, meanwhile, has been looking for ways to widen its trading options beyond its southern neighbour. Al Jazeera said Ottawa recently welcomed an offer from the European Union to become an “associate member”. Carney praised the ambition of the proposal and described what he is seeking as a “unique alliance” rather than ordinary EU membership.
What remains unclear
Neither Carney’s post nor the Al Jazeera report set out the terms under discussion, which tariffs might be lifted, or when a deal could be signed. The only timeframe offered was Carney’s reference to the “coming weeks” of work by negotiating teams, alongside Trump’s earlier remark that an agreement could arrive “pretty soon”. Whether the call leads to a concrete text will become clearer once those teams begin their talks after the US vote.