Canada-US Trade Minister Says Ottawa Won’t Be ‘Source of Any Delay’ in USMCA Negotiations

Canada will not be the reason for any delay in negotiations over the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, according to Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc.

“We’re ready to do the work to get to a deal very quickly,” LeBlanc told reporters following a meeting of the House of Commons standing committee on international trade on April 16. “We certainly won’t be the source of any delay.”

LeBlanc said Ottawa has submitted several proposals to the U.S. negotiating team, and continues to have “a number of constructive meetings at all levels.”

The minister earlier told the committee that he had a “positive” 45-minute conversation with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, but would not reveal details of their chat.

Conservative MP Jacob Mantle asked LeBlanc about comments made weeks earlier by U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, who said discussions had been more productive with the Mexicans than the Canadians. He said there had been “no substantive discussions” with the Canadians for five months.

“What are the issues that haven’t been resolved, and why aren’t we at the table?” Mantle asked LeBlanc.

LeBlanc responded that he disagreed with the “two premises of the question,” saying Canada is at the table with the United States. When Mantle asked for a “bullet point list” of the issues holding up negotiations, LeBlanc said, “I’m not going to bullet point the details of the specific conversations we’re having.”

When Conservative MP Jason Groleau asked LeBlanc about Canada’s progress, the minister said Ottawa has done “extensive work,” and he is “optimistic that we will succeed.”

Groleau also asked if supply management would be “sacrificed” in trade negotiations, and LeBlanc replied “absolutely not.” The United States has cited Canada’s supply management system as a trade irritant. The system sets prices for dairy, eggs, and poultry products and can involve tariffs up to 300 percent after quotas are reached.

The United States has also flagged provincial bans on American alcohol products and Ottawa’s “Buy Canadian” policy as trade irritants.

During a talk at the Hudson Institute last week, U.S. Trade Representative Greer said he believed it was unlikely that his government would resolve its issues with Canada ahead of the July 1 deadline, when the USMCA review is scheduled to commence. But Greer said the two sides were “on track to resolve many of them.”