LeBlanc hopes for progress on sectoral deals before CUSMA review starts

Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Heath MacDonald, left, make their way to a meeting of the Liberal caucus on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

OTTAWA — Ottawa is hoping to make progress on one-off, sector-specific tariff deals with the U.S. before the official review of North America’s trilateral trade pact begins, Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Thursday.

LeBlanc, the minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade, told a Senate foreign affairs committee hearing the Liberal government is looking to “make progress before” the formal Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement review launches next year.

He told the committee “nobody has yet suggested” Ottawa should fold the sector-specific talks into the broader review.

He said Canada is still in discussions on dropping sector-specific tariffs that are putting pressure on Canadian industries and he does not see “a dead end in those conversations.”

“If we’re not making progress and we have to put that into the CUSMA review process ... it would bring more structure perhaps in the sense of the trilateral relationship, technical tables, sectoral conversations. But I’m hoping we can get progress before the review process formally engages,” LeBlanc said. “Time will tell us if my optimism is misplaced.”

LeBlanc argued Canada retains many “leverage points” over the U.S. and that the tariffs will force American industrial giants to pressure President Donald Trump as well.

“A very significant portion of the American importation of aluminum comes from Canada. They’ve added a 50 per cent tariff on it,” he said.

“If you’re the CEO of Ford Motors and all of your F-150 and 250 trucks are made with Canadian aluminum, imported into the manufacturing facilities in the United States, it’s an inflationary pressure on those trucks. That’s just one example amongst others.”

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Thursday that after more than six months in government, Prime Minister Mark Carney has not managed to de-escalate the U.S. tariff war or land concrete wins with other nations on trade.

“He goes to Washington, gets wonderful, gushing media coverage. What’s the result? The Americans double tariffs on Canada,” Poilievre told reporters at a news conference held outdoors, behind a building on Parliament Hill.

“It has been a gigantic bait-and-switch. We were sold this brilliant negotiator. Where is it?”

Carney met with Trump in at the White House in May. Most of the media attention at that meeting was focused on Trump’s comments about making Canada a U.S. state, something Carney said will never happen.

Trump doubled his steel and aluminum tariffs to 50 per cent in June.

The president escalated his trade war again this week, through an executive order adding a 10 per cent tariff on softwood lumber and 25 per cent tariff on wooden furniture.

LeBlanc acknowledged these new tariffs on derivative steel, aluminum and wood products will “massively” increase the complexity facing companies.

He also acknowledged the Americans have been citing the supply management system in agriculture as a trade irritant.

LeBlanc said Ottawa is drawing a line in the sand with the Americans on supply management, both privately and publicly -- although he used much stronger language the day before.

“Supply management is not a subject of negotiation with the Americans. It will not be, it is not or will never be on a negotiating table as we look at a review of the CUSMA agreement,” LeBlanc told reporters on Wednesday.

The U.S. federal government shut down Wednesday, leaving hundreds of thousands of employees on furlough. While many federal offices have shuttered and there’s no compromise in sight to end the impasse, staff at the Office of the United States Trade Representative, who are in the midst of international trade negotiations, will still be required to work.

According to United States Trade Representative contingency plans, the department “will continue to perform functions necessary to the discharge of the President’s constitutional duty and power to conduct foreign relations.”

Canada’s Ambassador to the United States Kirsten Hillman, who is Canada’s chief negotiator, has been meeting for months with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and his staff to find an off-ramp from Trump’s tariffs on key Canadian sectors.

LeBlanc said Greer has talked to Canada about the U.S. preparations for the coming CUSMA review and it has not been “inflammatory.”

By Kyle Duggan.

With files from Kelly Geraldine Malone in Washington.