Dominic LeBlanc, minister responsible for Canada-U.S. Trade, speaks after the conclusion of a Committee on Internal Trade meeting in Ottawa on Monday.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc says he’s confident Mexico will not quit the USMCA to sign a one-on-one-trade agreement with the United States and played down reports that the Canadians are lagging the Mexicans when it comes to negotiations over renewing the trilateral pact with Washington.
The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement says all three countries are supposed to meet this year and by July 1, 2026, confirm in writing whether they intend to renew the pact – which would extend the deal another 16 years.
If all parties do not, then a 10-year countdown begins to the expiry of the deal, with yearly reviews until 2036 and renewal still possible. The signatories can also withdraw with six months’ notice.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has signalled it wants to renegotiate parts of the deal.
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Mr. LeBlanc last visited Washington March 6 to meet with United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, Mr. Trump’s trade czar. Nearly two weeks after those meetings, Mr. Greer told Fox Business that Canada was lagging Mexico in USMCA renewal talks. “We’re having talks separately with Canada, but we’ve moved along with Mexico,” Mr. Greer said. “Canada is behind on this.”
The Canadian minister, taking questions Monday on USMCA, said he thinks Mexico will stick together with Canada on the deal, which also goes by the name Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, or CUSMA.
“Are we concerned that Mexico may sign an agreement that would exclude Canada in terms of a trilateral trade agreement like CUSMA? The answer is no,” Mr. LeBlanc told reporters.
He said he based this confidence on Canada’s “conversations with Mexican cabinet secretaries, the Prime Minister’s conversations with President Sheinbaum, my interaction with President Sheinbaum herself a month ago.”
Added Mr. LeBlanc: “The Mexicans, like Canada, remain committed to a trilateral trade agreement that includes all three North American partners.”
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Mr. Greer told Congress last December he wants to push Canada and Mexico to address specific U.S. grievances – which, in the case of Canada, include improved access to Canadian dairy markets and online streaming rules. He also said he would look to shore up a common continental market by pushing for stronger North American content rules for “non-automotive industrial goods,” and more collaboration between the three countries on economic security-related tariffs, export controls and investment screening.
Mr. LeBlanc gave no indication of when he might return to Washington but said he intends to talk to his U.S. counterpart shortly. “I exchanged messages with Ambassador Greer again last week. I’m looking forward to a discussion, I would hope in the next couple of weeks; we’re finalizing that opportunity.”
He said the Canadian team is working behind the scenes, including chief trade negotiator Janice Charette, who “has had a number of conversations over the last few weeks with her counterpart in the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office” and Canada’s ambassador to the United States Mark Wiseman, who he said “has been very active and updates me and our colleagues almost daily on discussions he’s having with senior U.S. officials.”
He rejected the notion that Canada’s deal to break with the United States and scale back steep tariffs on imports of Chinese-made electric vehicles − a deal that Mr. Trump sharply criticized on social media − has impaired USMCA talks. Mr. Carney agreed in January to reduce tariffs from 100 per cent to 6.1 per cent for 49,000 Chinese-made vehicles in exchange for Beijing reducing levies on Canadian canola seed and other products.
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Mr. LeBlanc said he’s confident from his conversations with the U.S. that this “does not remain an impediment” to USMCA talks. He said Americans understand this EV deal was a relatively small arrangement.
“We made a time-limited sectoral agreement with the government of China, very important for agriculture and seafood industry in Canada, not much different than some of the bilateral agreements the United States struck with respect to soy producers in the United States.”
Separately from USMCA negotiations, Canada is also trying to resolve hefty U.S. tariffs on steel, aluminum and autos, among other matters.
Mr. LeBlanc said one-on-one agreements could arise from Canada’s or Mexico’s talks with Washington but they would not replace the USMCA.
“There may very well be bilateral agreements between two countries on issues specific to those two countries, but the framework of a trilateral trade agreement remains very much the efforts of both Canada and Mexico, and I would even say the United States in those conversations.”
Ontario Energy Minister Stephen Lecce is also headed to Washington this week to meet with White House officials and senior Department of Energy staff on energy and critical minerals.