A source familiar with the talks said on Friday, 7 August ’26, that Canada & the U.S. are discussing a prospective deal in which Ottawa may tackle a list of Trump administration trade demands. This is in exchange for Washington scrapping a threat to impose new tariffs.
Trump slapped tariffs on a range of Canadian imports after returning to power last year. In July ’25, Trump unveiled 50% tariffs on a wide range of imports to take effect on Wednesday, 19 August, unless Ottawa tackled U.S. grievances.
The same source shared that there is no guarantee the two sides will reach a deal. A challenge for Ottawa is that it cannot order American alcohol to return to the shelves since the decision remains the responsibility of the provinces.
The same source added that Canada told the U.S. that unless the 2 sides reached a deal to stave off the tariffs, Ottawa’s ability to sustain talks would be constrained by public anger. This situation also spreads to potential further retaliation by the provinces.
Any side agreements in dealing with the potential new tariffs may be part of a larger review of the tripartite U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade pact, which may have been completed but now seems to drag into the next year.
Although in charge of the U.S.-Canada trade relations, the office of Canadian Federal Minister Dominic LeBlanc declined to comment.
Canadian officials had a constructive & detailed meeting with Greer on Thursday, 6 August, said LeBlanc. The same source shared that the two sides were set to meet every day until Wednesday, 19 August.
Relations between Canada & the U.S. have been fraught since Trump returned to the White House last year, imposing tariffs besides calling for the annexation of Canada.
Canada’s willingness to consider targeted trade concessions underscores Ottawa’s effort to avert further U.S. tariffs, protect exporters and workers, and preserve the deeply integrated bilateral trading relationship.
