“I would expect to talk to Sec. Lutnick on the phone next week,” LeBlanc instructed POLITICO Friday from the Canadian embassy in Washington. “There’s no meeting scheduled, but I exchanged text messages with him yesterday.”
Despite Trump’s elevated tariff, LeBlanc, in addition to Carney, famous the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement extends broad safety to most — however actually not all — Canadian industries.
“The president’s respect of the USMCA application puts Canada in a favorable position,” mentioned LeBlanc, whose instant precedence is working with Carney to assist Canadian staff affected by the tariffs.
Trump’s tariff hike nonetheless hits items that aren’t lined by the USMCA. The Bank of Canada forecast this week that as much as 95 p.c of Canadian exports may qualify for exemptions below that settlement. Meanwhile, the share of Canadian firms claiming tariff exemptions has soared.
Before boarding a flight again to his New Brunswick residence, LeBlanc mentioned that leaves “Canada in a favorable position with respect to the overall tariff rate on our economy as compared to other trading partners.”
LeBlanc was in Washington with Carney’s chief of workers, Marc-André Blanchard, and Kirsten Hillman, Canada’s U.S. envoy and chief negotiator, for the homestretch of talks forward of Trump’s self-imposed Aug. 1 commerce deadline.
When no deal was reached, Trump signed an govt order justifying the hike in tariffs as a response to the illicit motion of fentanyl over Canada’s land border into the U.S.
In reality, U.S. information reveals that fentanyl accounts for lower than 1 p.c of the quantity of the illicit drug that’s smuggled into the U.S. Canada has spent C$1.3 billion on a border-security bundle that features drones, helicopters and extra legislation enforcement personnel — factors LeBlanc mentioned he repeatedly bolstered in his interactions this week.
“We were obviously disappointed by the president’s decision,” LeBlanc mentioned. “It doesn’t mean that we can’t continue to constructively engage with our American counterparts.”
Candace Laing, the CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, referred to as the White House reality sheet on the tariffs “a fact-less sheet” on the fentanyl emergency. “More fact-less tariff turbulence does not advance North American economic security.”
LeBlanc, in the meantime, took a extra conciliatory strategy, saying there may be “zero daylight” between Ottawa and Washington’s dedication to tackling the opioid disaster.
He’ll flip his consideration to working with Carney on home initiatives, “focused on the work I have to do around building one Canadian economy and the major projects.”
He and Carney will seek the advice of Métis leaders in Ottawa subsequent week as the federal government strikes to expedite the approval of “nation-building projects,” which may embody vitality corridors, roads, mines and different infrastructure.
LeBlanc acknowledged Canada’s metal and aluminum exports are nonetheless taking a 50 p.c tariff hit below a separate nationwide safety legislation, and that non-USMCA-protected autos face a 25 p.c levy.
“We are very much shifting our focus to what we need to do to support those sectors of the economy hit by the [Section] 232 tariffs, like the steel and aluminum sector, like automobiles,” he mentioned, referring to Trump’s use of the Trade Expansion Act to justify these levies on nationwide safety grounds.
He mentioned Carney shall be asserting assist measures for these staff and companies, “like we did with steel a couple of weeks ago.”
LeBlanc additionally met senior Mexican officers in Washington this previous week, and mentioned they mentioned beginning talks as early as the autumn on the evaluate of the USMCA — a course of scheduled for subsequent yr below the pact’s sundown clause.
Mexico managed to safe a 90-day extension to permit extra time to achieve a longer-term settlement with the U.S.
“We continue to believe that the USMCA is a very valuable instrument to build the economies of all three countries,” LeBlanc mentioned.
