Prime Minister Mark Carney is planning to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump at a FIFA World Cup event Friday in Washington as trade negotiations between Canada and the United States remain on pause.
The Prime Minister's Office said Carney will meet with Trump at the Kennedy Center, where the event is being held, and the meeting is expected to be brief. Carney is also set to meet with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.
The three leaders are attending the final draw for the World Cup, which is being co-hosted by the North American countries next year.
This will be the first in-person meeting of all three leaders ahead of next year's mandatory review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on trade.
While North American diplomatic and trade relations have been upended by sweeping tariffs targeting the United States' closest neighbours, Carney and Sheinbaum have taken starkly different approaches to the Trump administration.
After Canada's April election, Carney quickly travelled to Washington for a meeting with Trump at the White House.
Despite the congenial tone of that meeting, Trump boosted duties on Canada to 35 per cent in August. Those tariffs do not apply to goods compliant with the continental trade pact, known as CUSMA.
Canadian industries are also being slammed by the president's separate tariffs on steel, aluminum, automobiles, lumber and copper.
To appease the president, Ottawa boosted border security, increased NATO funding and dropped its digital services tax.
Carney has maintained regular contact with the American president for months. Trump heaped praise on the prime minister when the two leaders met again in October at the White House.
Trump, however, quickly called off trade talks after being angered by an Ontario-sponsored ad that quoted former president Ronald Reagan criticizing tariffs.
Carney told reporters last week that he and the U.S. president have spoken recently — but not about trade negotiations.
Friday's FIFA event will see the first face-to-face meeting between Trump and Sheinbaum. They were set to meet during June's G7 summit in Alberta but Trump left early to deal with tensions between Israel and Iran.
Trump never increased the 25 per cent tariffs on Mexico, which also don't apply to goods compliant with CUSMA, saying Sheinbaum had taken action to address migration and drug smuggling at the border.
Sheinbaum said Wednesday that "it's not yet decided" if she'll have a private meeting with Trump while in Washington for the FIFA event.
"If it were to happen, it would be a very brief meeting," she said.
The 2026 World Cup — meant to showcase North American unity — will be taking place under the shadow of critical trade negotiations among the three countries.
Canada and Mexico have both been shielded from some of the worst impacts of Trump's tariffs by the CUSMA carveout but the trade agreement's future has become uncertain.
When asked about the CUSMA review Wednesday, Trump said the trade pact "expires" next year and "we'll either let it expire or we'll maybe work out another deal with Mexico and Canada."
The trade pact was negotiated during the first Trump administration to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement. When CUSMA was signed, Trump called it the best deal ever — but has changed tune during his second administration.
Trump has called the trade pact a "transitional" deal and said it may have served its purpose.
Picture Courtesy: AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool
