Canada’s ambassador to the United States says “it’s all going to be OK” with the renewal date for the North American trade pact just a few weeks away.
Ambassador Mark Wiseman is speaking to a business audience at the Canadian Club Toronto today.
He kicked off his fireside chat by trying to lower the temperature around the Canada-U.S.-Mexico agreement, better known as CUSMA, which enters a renewal period starting July 1.
Wiseman told the crowd to "take a deep breath" and remember the current agreement is set to end not in two weeks, but in 10 years, and the decision now in front of the three parties to the deal is whether to extend that expiration to 2042.
U.S. President Donald Trump has openly mused about walking away from the deal he negotiated in his first term, but Wiseman noted that the United States could have triggered the six-month exit clause at any point — not just after the July 1 date.
Wiseman says even if CUSMA isn't on the chopping block, Canada does urgently need to resolve Trump's Section 232 tariffs targeting steel, aluminum and autos.
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
