Carney to meet Trump looking for “Best Agreement for Canada”

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney goes to Washington for his second visit this year – this time with the more modest objective of recovering commercial talks on the right track.

The negotiations dragged during the summer, passing by a deadline of August fixed by the two leaders. But few details have been published on discussions or on problems that prevent an agreement.

Canada is the only country in the G7 not to have concluded a trade agreement with Trump this year-although unlike other allies, Ottawa is not in a hurry to rush under the United States-Canada-Mexico free trade agreement.

But Tuesday’s tête-à-tête comes when Trump has renewed the speech to make Canada an American state, while Carney’s main opposition figure said that what is not the subject of a trade agreement on this trip would be considered a failure.

The Minister of Commerce of Canada-US, Dominic Leblanc, said last week that “progress” was in the process of achieving an agreement, and media reports suggest that there could be a certain relief from the American steel prices to come.

The initiates, however, alluded to the frustration of the lack of clarity of the White House on what a commercial and security agreement with Canada might look like.

“If you look at all the different things in which Trump is engaged, is it just close to the summit? Probably not,” said Colin Robertson, a former Canadian diplomat and member of the Carleton University group on Canadian-American Relations.

“This is part of the reason why I think, the Prime Minister descends (in Washington), to say” give us your attention “, told Robertson to the BBC.

The Carney office presented Tuesday’s meeting as a “working visit” focused on the search for common and security ground, although no major breakthrough is expected, the BBC white houses told BBC.

The time face to face with the president, who finds important personal relationships, could also help to mitigate the commercial impasse, noted Jamie Trones, executive director of the Center for North American Prosperity and Security, based in Washington.

“Trump was very clear that he wants people to come to him,” she said.

At the White House on Monday, Trump only said that “I guess he will ask questions about the prices”.

“Many Canada companies move in in the United States,” the president said at the Oval office. “Everyone returns to the United States.”

When asked if he would modify his position on prices, Trump responded quickly: “I’m right.”

Carney has faced internal pressures to conclude an agreement with the United States that would reduce prices, especially for the hard-affected sectors such as steel and wood.

In an open letter to the Prime Minister on Monday before his visit to Washington, the conservative opposition Pierre Poilievre urged Carney to “negotiate a victory”.

“If you only return with apologies, broken promises and photo sessions, you will have failed our workers, our businesses and our country,” wrote Hairyvre.

Trump imposed a 35% direct debit on Canadian imports, but has allowed a neckline for goods that fall under the USMCA commercial pact. He also imposed distinct sectoral samples, 50% of which are on metals and 25% on vehicles.

Carney sought to reassure Canadians that a large majority of trade with the United States – 85% of it – remains free from rights thanks to the exemption from the USMCA.

The Prime Minister was also criticized for softening his “elbow” electoral argument for having treated the Trump administration, referring to an ice hockey metaphor for having played aggressively.

Instead, Carney has done what some have described as concessions since their entry into office: putting an end to a digital services tax that Trump did not openly like, abandoning most of Canada’s reprisal rates in the United States and withdrawing legal litigation two decades on American duties on soft Canadian wood.

Mr. Robertson called him “the admission price” to maintain commercial discussions.

However, Carney described the relationship with Trump as “good” and said that the two texts systematically.

Tuesday’s White House visit also occurs while consultations start before a next examination of the longtime USMCA free trade agreement.

US trade representative Jameison Greer said this review could be carried out separately with Canada and Mexico, because the American relationship with the two countries “is different in many ways,” he said in late September.

Pete Hoekstra, American ambassador to Canada, told an Ottawa audience in September that Washington hoped to negotiate a “larger” agreement with Canada, which covers both trade and defense.

He also expressed his frustration in the face of Canadian dissatisfaction with the United States, saying “he is very, very difficult to find Canadians passionate about the American-Canadian relationship”.

The Carney government had to travel a tightrope to deal with public dismay on American relations.

Tourism data shows that the number of Canadians visiting the United States has dropped for seven consecutive months, and an Ipsos survey has found six in 10 Canadians believe that their country can never trust the United States in the same way.

This feeling is partly fueled by Trump’s repeated complaint that Canada should become “the 51st state” – more recently last week before senior military generals in Virginia while discussing the plans of an anti -missile defense system of the Dome Dome.

Determine what the United States wants to get out of talks have been difficult to decipher.

It is likely that Washington wishes to put Ottawa for firm commitments on questions beyond trade, such as defense and its shared border, said Avidan Cover, director of the World Security Law Institute of the Western Reserve University in Ohio.

Trump’s demands that Canada becomes the 51st American state, added Mr. Cover, “postponed” and “not a serious proposal” – but he said he thought they “revealed” where Trump is about Canada.

“This reflects a huge amount of leverage,” he said.

Experts have also noted that the ambitious Trump’s golden missile shield would require a certain level of Canadian participation given its geographic proximity, the Trump administration probably seeking an agreement on this from Canada.

While Carney works to maintain dialogue with Trump, he spent the summer to visit allies like the United Kingdom and Mexico to consolidate support and find new markets for Canada.

At home, he focused on the rise of “national construction” projects that can improve the economic production of Canada in the long term.

But there is always a general recognition in the political aisles that Canada needs to conclude a kind of problem with Trump to protect its economy, because 75% of its goods are sold in the United States and thousands of jobs have already been lost in vulnerable sectors.

The Carney government is perfectly aware of this pressure before Tuesday’s meeting, Robertson noted. If they are implemented in full force, American prices have the power to “break” Canada’s economy.

“In the meantime, while we rush to find new opportunities, you want to maintain the current agreement in place,” he said.