Canada’s Chief Trade Negotiator Says It’s ‘Unlikely’ CUSMA Issues Will Be Resolved by July 1

Canada’s chief trade negotiator to the United States said she believes it is unlikely the two countries will resolve all issues around the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) before July 1.

“I think there’s a lot of ​focus on July 1, which is kind of a checkpoint. It’s not a ⁠cliff,” Janice Charette said on April 21 at a panel organized by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce ​in Ottawa.

Charette said given the “number of issues” and global deals the U.S. is engaged in, and in the interest of getting a “comprehensive solution,” it would not be possible to resolve everything by July 1, which is the scheduled date for the countries to review CUSMA.

Charette added that Ottawa believes CUSMA is a “strong agreement” and that there is no need to change its fundamentals.

If the countries agree to a renewal of CUSMA, the agreement would remain in place for another 16 years. If that does not happen, it could trigger annual reviews for a decade until the deal expires in 2036. If one or more countries withdraw from the agreement, the three countries could also then make bilateral agreements.

Mexico began formal talks with the United States on CUSMA last month, and the two countries are set to begin official bilateral negotiations in May. Progress between the United States and Canada has been slower, and the two countries do not appear to have an official start date in place for negotiations.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said at a conference on April 17 that U.S. President Donald Trump thinks CUSMA is a “bad deal.” He also criticized comments by Steve Verheul, who was Canada’s chief trade negotiator from 2017 to 2021, who said that “time is on [Canada’s] side” in trade talks because the U.S. administration faces increasing pressure.

“That is like the worst strategy I’ve ever heard. They suck,” Lutnick said. A spokesperson for the U.S. Commerce Department said in a statement that Lutnick was referring to the “unfair trade imbalance” where Canada “sucks off our $30 [trillion] economy.”

Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc recently said on April 16 that Canada would not be the reason for any delay in CUSMA negotiations.

“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.

LeBlanc also told the committee that he recently had a “positive” 45-minute conversation with Lutnick, but would not reveal details of their chat.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre told reporters April 21 that the Liberal government has not made clear what Ottawa’s plan is for CUSMA negotiations and countering U.S. tariffs.

“What is Mark Carney’s plan? What are his intentions? Has Mr. Carney even stated whether he wants to renew CUSMA at all?” Poilievre said.