United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer described talks with his Canadian colleagues as "constructive" on Friday but said Canada would have to lift its retaliatory measures in order to avoid new tariffs.
Canadian officials have intensified trade talks with their American counterparts in recent weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to impose 50 per cent tariffs on a range of Canadian goods starting Aug. 19.
The Trump administration says the new duties are a response to provincial bans on U.S. liquor, Canada's supply-managed dairy system and quotas on certain U.S. vehicles.
"These tariffs that are coming in, they are a response to Canadian retaliatory measures, like the kind of things that China would do," Greer said in Des Moines Friday, where he was touring a tire factory and attending the Iowa State Fair.
"And so those are things that would have to be resolved."
Greer met with Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Janice Charette, Canada's chief trade negotiator, in Washington earlier this week. LeBlanc and Greer have met four times in recent weeks.
LeBlanc is expected to update provincial and territorial trade ministers and members of the prime minister's advisory committee on Canada-U.S. relations later Friday, a spokesperson from the minister's office said.
LeBlanc said on social media Thursday evening that negotiations are ongoing.
"We continue to advance Canada's interests," he said.
Greer said Friday there are elements of U.S. trade policy that Canada's negotiators don't like but added he's having "constructive negotiations with the Canadians."
"At the end of the day, President Trump, the United States, we are going to do what is best for America," he said.
"If there's a way to, you know, bring Canada along with that, we're happy to do that, but we are mostly focused first and foremost on making sure President Trump's trade policy is executed."
Greer did not provide details of the trade talks but said the U.S. has had major trade issues with Canada for decades. He said any "potential resolution has to include all of these on a pathway forward."
Greer argued the new tariffs don't amount to a trade war. He said the U.S. is trying to protect domestic supply chains and is not singling out Canada. If a country retaliates, the U.S. will respond, he added.
"My sense is the Canadians, they want to have a more conciliatory approach but we'll see," Greer said.
Unlike most of Trump's other tariffs, the new duties would have no exemptions for goods that comply with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico agreement on trade, widely known as CUSMA.
Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette said Thursday in Montreal that some industries may find themselves in "survival mode" if the 50 per cent tariffs take effect.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Thursday in Guelph, Ont., that he's open to returning U.S. booze to the province's shelves if there is a "fair deal" that protects Canadian steel, aluminum, auto, forestry, agricultural and manufacturing sectors.
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Kelly Geraldine Malone
