Canada’s LeBlanc says trade talks with US unfrozen, more meetings ahead

Canada’s trade minister says US talks are unfrozen and a meeting with USTR Greer was positive, but warned the road to conclusions is not always a straight line.

Summary:

• LeBlanc described a meeting with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer as positive, with a follow-up planned for next week
• Canada raised concerns over US tariffs on autos, steel, aluminum and softwood lumber
• LeBlanc said Canada has made what it considers significant submissions addressing US trade concerns, and has been preparing for potential US Section 301 tariff investigations
• He characterised US-Canada trade talks as having been unfrozen for a number of months
• Bilateral USMCA discussions with Mexico are ongoing, with LeBlanc expressing confidence that three-way talks on auto rules of origin will proceed

Canada’s minister responsible for trade with the United States, Dominic LeBlanc, described a meeting with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer as positive on Tuesday, while signalling that the path to resolving the two countries’ tariff disputes remains long and non-linear.

Speaking after the meeting, LeBlanc said Canada had raised its concerns over US tariffs across four key sectors: autos, steel, aluminum and softwood lumber. He said Ottawa had submitted proposals it considers significant in addressing the concerns Washington has raised, and confirmed that Canada has been actively preparing for potential US Section 232 and Section 301 tariff investigations.

LeBlanc said the two sides would be in contact again next week, and characterised the broader bilateral trade dialogue as having been unfrozen for several months. The phrasing was notable: it suggested an acknowledgement that talks had previously stalled, and that the current engagement, while active, has yet to produce binding outcomes.

On the multilateral front, LeBlanc confirmed that Canada is engaged in bilateral USMCA discussions with Mexico and expressed confidence that a three-way conversation on auto rules of origin, covering all three USMCA signatories, would take place. Auto rules of origin have been a persistent flashpoint in USMCA negotiations, with the US pushing for higher North American content thresholds that Canada and Mexico have resisted.

LeBlanc was careful to temper expectations. His observation that the road to conclusions in these conversations is sometimes not a straight line read as a deliberate signal to domestic audiences and markets that a deal is not imminent, even if the direction of travel is positive.

The talks come against a backdrop of elevated Canada-US trade tensions that have persisted since the first Trump administration’s tariff offensive, with the USMCA review process adding further complexity. Ottawa’s engagement across multiple tracks simultaneously, bilateral with Washington, bilateral with Mexico City, and preparation for formal US trade investigations, underlines the breadth of the trade relationship at risk.

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The tone from Ottawa is constructive but deliberately measured, with LeBlanc’s “not a straight line” framing a soft warning against reading too much into the positive optics. Markets sensitive to Canada-US trade dynamics, particularly in autos, steel, aluminum and softwood lumber, will note that talks are active and submissions have been made, but no concrete outcomes have been announced. The USMCA auto rules of origin discussion, which now draws in Mexico, adds a trilateral dimension that complicates and potentially extends the timeline to resolution.

This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at investinglive.com.