Carney Appoints Chief Trade Negotiator to Oversee Upcoming USMCA Review

Prime Minister Mark Carney has appointed former Clerk of the Privy Council Janice Charette to lead Canada’s negotiations in the review of the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (CUSMA/USMCA) this year.

Charette is appointed as Chief Trade Negotiator to the United States, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a Feb. 16 news release.

She will be a senior adviser to Carney and Canada–U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc on the trade deal review, and on “strengthening the trade and investment relationship between Canada and the United States,” according to the PMO.

The PMO also said Charette will work closely with Ambassador of Canada to the United States Mark Wiseman. Wiseman began his new role as Canadian ambassador on Feb. 15, replacing former ambassador Kirsten Hillman, who announced in December she would step down in the new year to make way for a team that would “see the CUSMA Review through to its conclusion.”

Carney says Charette brings “extraordinary leadership, expertise, and a deep commitment to advancing Canada’s interests,” with four decades of experience in public policy and diplomacy.

“As Chief Trade Negotiator, she will advance Canadian interests and a strengthened trade and investment relationship that benefits workers and industries in both Canada and the United States,” Carney said in a Feb. 16 statement.

Charette served twice as the Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet, first from 2014 to 2016, and then she later returned as interim Clerk from 2021 to 2022 before being appointed as Clerk again from 2022 until she retired in 2023. As Clerk of the Privy Council, she served as the prime minister’s primary public service adviser and as head of the public service.

During her second term as Privy Council clerk, Charette advised the Liberal government to invoke the Emergencies Act against Freedom Convoy protesters in downtown Ottawa, saying the protest presented “threats of serious violence.”

She also served as High Commissioner for Canada in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from 2016 to 2021.

Free Trade Review

Charette’s appointment comes just ahead of the CUSMA/USMCA review, which is set to begin on July 1. The free trade agreement came into force on July 1, 2020, for a 16-year term and includes a provision that requires a joint review beginning on the its sixth anniversary.

The PMO said in December that LeBlanc would meet with his U.S. counterparts in mid-January to launch formal CUSMA/USMCA negotiations.

Under the CUSMA/USMCA, about 85 percent of Canadian goods imported to the United States are exempt from tariffs, while products that don’t fall under the deal are currently subject to 35 percent tariffs, with certain sectoral tariffs levied at different rates.