The office of the Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carney, said that Canada and the U.S. intend to launch formal discussions to review their free trade agreement in mid-January.
The PM confirmed to provincial leaders that Dominic LeBlanc is the country’s point person for U.S.-Canada trade relations. On Friday, 18 December ’25, Carney’s office said in a statement that they intend to meet with the U.S. counterparts in mid-January to launch formal discussions.
The United States-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade pact is up for review in 2026. U.S. President Donald Trump negotiated the deal during his first term and included a clause to renegotiate it later in the same year, 2026.
Carney met with the Canadian provincial leaders on Thursday, 18 December ’25, to give them an update on trade talks with the U.S.
Canada is one of the most trade-dependent countries in the world. More than 75% of Canada’s exports go to the country’s southern neighbours. The USMCA currently exempts most exports to the U.S.
Trump cut off trade talks to reduce tariffs on certain sectors with Carney in October ’25 after the Ontario provincial government ran an anti-tariff advertisement in the U.S. The incident followed a spring of acrimony, since abated, over Trump’s insistence that Canada should become the U.S.’s 51st state.
On Thursday, 18 December 2025, Carney was quoted as having shared that Canada and the U.S. were close to an agreement at the time of sectoral tariffs on multiple fronts, including steel & aluminium. Tariffs are taking a toll on certain sectors of the Canadian economy. Aluminium, steel, auto, and lumber industries experienced this setback.
Carney was also of the view that trade irritants flagged this week by U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer are elements of a “much larger discussion’ about continental trade. Greer shared that an intended review of the Canada–U.S.–Mexico trade deal will hinge on resolving U.S. concerns about Canadian policies on dairy products, alcohol & digital services.
