U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday he had not spoken with Prime Minister Mark Carney, the day before his deadline to increase tariffs on Canadian products.
Speaking to reporters at the White House Thursday afternoon, Trump was asked whether Carney’s announcement that Canada plans to recognize a Palestinian state was a deal-breaker on trade.
“I didn’t like what they said, but you know, that’s their opinion,” Trump said. “Not a deal-breaker. But we haven’t spoken to Canada today. He’s called and we’ll see.”
Canada’s trade negotiating team is in Washington, but officials were tight-lipped Thursday about who they were meeting with — if anyone.
Trump’s comments indicate Canada remains in limbo without a deal to stave off a hike in tariffs.
The tariffs, currently set at 25 per cent, apply to goods that don’t meet the rules of origin in the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement, a relatively small portion of Canadian exports to the U.S.
Trump threatened earlier this month to raise that rate to 35 per cent, effective Friday.
Earlier Thursday, Trump announced a 90-day extension of the current tariff regime with Mexico, which was also facing the threat of an increase.
Speaking from the White House on Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump said Canada’s plan to recognize Palestinian statehood in September would not stop the ongoing trade negotiations, with his Aug. 1 deadline hours away.
For more than a week, Carney and other Canadian officials have been downplaying the likelihood of getting a deal by the deadline. They’ve also cast doubt on the urgency, given the exemption that allows roughly 90 per cent of Canadian exports to enter the U.S. tariff-free.
David Paterson, Ontario’s representative in Washington, told CBC’s Power and Politics guest host David Common that Canadians should not be overreacting to the lack of a deal right now.
“The sun will shine in the morning and we will carry on,” Paterson said Thursday from his office in Canada’s embassy in Washington.
“We really support the prime minister’s approach,” Paterson said. “When the time is right for that agreement to come together, it will.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump could still reach more deals with trading partners Thursday evening, but if not, the threatened tariff increases will kick in.
“Those countries that either do not have a deal or have a letter, they will be hearing from this administration by the midnight deadline tonight,” Leavitt told reporters in a briefing.
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