Canada govt source says US also keen on trade deal before Aug 19 deadline

OTTAWA: A Canadian government source directly familiar with trade negotiations with the United States said on Thursday that talks were progressing well and Washington also wanted an agreement before a new US tariff deadline on Aug. 19. US President Donald Trump has said he would impose new 50percent tariffs on a range of Canadian imports from Aug. 19, including goods that would otherwise qualify for an exemption under the US-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement.

“What I’m seeing right now in terms of the negotiations, it seems to go quite well,” said a government source who did not wish to be named. “We are also seeing some positive aspects from the US too. They also want to come to an agreement before the deadline of August 19th. This is also their goal. It’s not just for us,” the source said.

Canadian minister responsible for US trade relations, Dominic LeBlanc, will meet US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer for the second time this week on Thursday, LeBlanc’s office said in a statement, as Ottawa seeks a trade deal before US tariffs take effect on next week. Canada’s chief trade negotiator, Janice Charette, will also attend the meeting, his office said.

The meeting will be LeBlanc’s fourth with Greer in three weeks, as Canadian and US officials hold frequent talks aimed at reaching an agreement before the new tariffs take effect next week. News reports said earlier this week that the relationship between the two long-time trading partners could sour and talks could stall if the US imposes new tariffs.

“Everything is on the table, including our relationship with the US,” the source said. Charette, along with a team of four or five top officials from Canada’s foreign affairs ministry, finance ministry and agriculture ministry, are regularly engaging with her counterparts in the US “We’re working quite collaboratively to come up with something, so we’ll see,” the source added.

The Premier of major grain-growing province Saskatchewan, Scott Moe, said on Thursday that the latest talks between Canada and the US were encouraging, but urged to keep the broader goal of renewing the USMCA agreement as the main focus.

The US Trade Representative’s office said that the new tariffs, if applied, would cover nearly USD20 billion of imports from Canada, about 5.2percent of the USD383 billion worth of goods that the US imported from Canada in 2025, according to US Census Bureau data.