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Prime Minister Mark Carney will be presented with options and the Advisory Committee on Canada-U.S. Economic Relations will get a briefing on Friday afternoon, just days before 50% tariffs on Canadian goods goes into effect.

After days of talks in Washington that were described at times as both substantive and tense, each side is retreating to their respective corners.

“The president, the prime minister, obviously they’ll be given options and discussions,” U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told CBC in an interview Thursday .

The goal this week was to attempt to find a solution that could avoid American threats to increase tariffs on Canadian goods starting next Wednesday. That would mean being able to cobble together a deal that could be put in front of Trump before Monday at the latest.

As Carney laid low in Italy, his point man on border issues Dominic LeBlanc spent most of the week in Washington meeting with Greer. Unlike several previous meetings, both men were joined by teams of specialists able to deal with the nitty gritty of trade talks.

“We’ll have as many meetings as it takes to do the work Canadians expect us to do,” LeBlanc said to a scrum of reporters surrounding him as he walked down the street in Washington on Thursday.

Early proposal offered reduced but not eliminated tariffs

Earlier in the week, the first American proposal which would have seen Canada offer several concessions in exchange for reduced but not eliminated tariffs on steel and aluminum was seen as a non-starter. It asked too much of the Canadian side while not offering enough in return.

Specifically, it didn’t address American tariffs on Canada’s auto sector while demanding that American booze be put back on provincial liquor store shelves. Ontario Premier Doug Ford has been adamant that he won’t put booze back on the shelves if tariffs remain in place.

On Thursday, he reiterated his position.

“If we get a fair deal that will protect our steel sector, our auto sector, our forestry sector, agriculture sector, manufacturing sector, then we’d be more than happy to bring booze back on the shelf,” Ford said.

Meeting those conditions is a very big IF, and Ford isn’t alone in saying he won’t put American booze back on the shelf without meaningful movement. Quebec Premier Christine Frechette has cited dairy and supply management as a key issue for her when it comes to the booze ban. For B.C.’s David Eby, it is softwood lumber.

Movement in trade talks

Still, there is room for some optimism and clearly there is movement with LeBlanc staying in Washington for talks into Friday and Canada’s chief negotiator Janice Charette returning to the USTR offices late Thursday for talks that went into the evening.

“Things have moved significantly,” said one source briefed on the talks.

Whether that movement is enough to avoid the additional tariffs on $28 billion worth of goods — everything from hockey sticks to cement, alcohol to honey — remains to be seen.

According to reports, Charette told the Americans last week that imposing new tariffs on Canada, escalating the situation, could result in negotiations going over a cliff. She told Greer that it would be difficult to control public sentiment in Canada or the reaction of premiers.

One source described the move not as a threat to the Americans but more of a request to find a way to work together in finding a solution.

The Carney government’s plan for the past several months had been to try and wait out the Trump administration and not engage in real talks until after the U.S. midterms where Trump’s Republican Party is not expected to fare well. That tactic irritated the American side and was part of the push to impose these new tariffs in a way force Canada to the table.

Now with the deadline looming, Canadian businesses are looking nervously at both Ottawa and Washington while hoping for the best.

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