‘Not what they’re saying’: Carney rejects suggestion U.S. may exit trade pact

Dominic LeBlanc says he believes ending CUSMA isn’t currently the objective the Americans have in mind with the free trade agreement up for renewal next year.

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney pushed back Thursday against the suggestion the U.S. is considering pulling out of North America’s free-trade pact.

When The Canadian Press asked the prime minister if he was open to separate bilateral trade pacts if the U.S. withdraws, Carney replied, “That’s not what they’re saying.”

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer floated the idea during a public talk put on by the American think-tank the Atlantic Council in Washington on Wednesday. Greer said the continental free-trade pact could be dissolved, revised or renegotiated.

“Could it be exited? Yeah, it could be exited. Could it be revised? Yes. Could it be renegotiated? Yes,” he said. “All of those things are on the table.”

Canada’s most important free trade deal, the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement — often referred to as CUSMA — is set to come up for review next year.

Dominic LeBlanc, the minister responsible for Canada-U.S. relations, told The Canadian Press Ottawa’s conversations with American officials indicate they are not interested in tearing up the deal.

“We believe, based on our conversations with the Americans, that for the moment that’s not the objective the Americans have in mind,” he said in a French-language interview, adding Mexican officials have a similar view of the situation.

• Will Trump keep CUSMA trade deal? What LeBlanc thinks

But Canada’s former chief trade negotiator Steve Verheul has warned members of Parliament the U.S. will likely seek to crank up the pressure on Canada and Mexico during the review by threatening to end the agreement.

“The biggest challenge Canada and Mexico will face is to convince the U.S. of the reality that extending the agreement is the most effective way to promote economic growth and prosperity in all three countries,” Verheul told a House of Commons committee on Oct. 30.

“To put further pressure on Canada and Mexico, the U.S. is unlikely to take a position that supports an extension of the agreement at this time. They’re going to try to use that as leverage.”

At the Dec. 4 Grow Canada Conference in Calgary, Verheul said Canada may see Trump and his team continue to push next year for the sort of informal deals they’ve reached with the EU, Japan and South Korea as the review is being conducted.

“He seems to like that approach, and that might be something we’ll have to face,” Verheul said during a panel talk.

Canada has been pushing to end heavy tariffs levied by the Trump administration on Canada’s steel, aluminum, auto and forestry sectors.

In an interview with The Canadian Press this week, U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra said U.S. trade negotiators were “very disappointed” when progress was scuttled this fall after Ontario launched an anti-tariff ad blitz on American networks that annoyed Trump.

“They were in the meeting with the prime minister, they were in the meeting with the president, where … as the meeting was wrapping up, the prime minister and the president were telling their teams, OK, we’ve got a framework here, wrap it up, get it done. And then we ran into some unfortunate events that significantly changed the dynamics,” Hoekstra said, insisting the ads — which featured former president Ronald Reagan criticizing tariffs — were directly responsible for blowing up the talks.

LeBlanc said the Canadian side was “certainly disappointed” when talks were upended this fall because the negotiating team “felt we were moving into a level of detail that was previously absent.”

Trump and Carney appeared to get along well on Friday when they sat with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum at the FIFA World Cup draw, just before the three world leaders entered a closed-door meeting. It was their first such in-person meeting since talks blew up this fall.

“It’s clear there from the U.S. standpoint, there was the opportunity on Friday, but you know, the president didn’t re-initiate the process,” Hoekstra added.

When the president was asked Sunday whether he’d resume the trade talks, Trump answered, “We’ll see.”

“They’re very tough traders, but I have a very good relationship with the prime minister and with Canada,” Trump added.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 11, 2025.

— With files from Emilie Bergeron

Kyle Duggan and David Baxter, The Canadian Press