Prime Minister Mark Carney arrives at Joint Base Andrews near Washington on Monday, ahead of his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
Prime Minister Mark Carney touched down in Washington on Monday evening in the hopes of securing some relief from U.S. President Donald Trump’s mounting tariffs.
Mr. Carney’s sit-down at the White House on Tuesday, which Ottawa has described as a “working visit,” will mark his second trip to meet with Mr. Trump since taking office.
The pressure has been building on Mr. Carney to deliver progress on getting some tariffs lifted after his last trip in May ended with no breakthroughs. In June, the two had initially agreed to strike an economic-security deal within 30 days to end the trade war. Mr. Carney defended the move to set a time frame, saying a fixed date helps “concentrate the mind.” Both sides blew past that deadline of late July – later pushed to Aug. 1 – without any measurable progress.
As Mr. Carney and Mr. Trump meet face-to-face late Tuesday morning, here are five things to know.
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Prime Minister Mark Carney in the Oval Office on Tuesday.Evan Vucci/The Associated Press
Ottawa tempers expectations for second visit
This time, the Carney government is keeping expectations low. The government said this meeting will help inform preparations for the coming review of its trilateral trade pact with Mexico and the U.S. next year.
Two senior government officials said not to expect breakthroughs. The Globe and Mail is not identifying the officials because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.
Mr. Carney had already shifted his message ahead of this latest visit. After promising to strike a deal that would lift all tariffs, he acknowledged in July that reaching such an agreement with United States was unlikely. A number of countries, including Britain and Japan, have agreed to deals that keep a baseline tariff in place.
Canadian officials say the focus will be on seeking relief for the steep sectoral tariffs on steel, aluminum, copper and autos, and duties on softwood lumber.
Mounting cost of Trump’s trade war
Most of Canada’s goods continue to enter the U.S. without tariffs because of a carve-out under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA. Mr. Carney has repeatedly pointed to that exemption, saying that Canada still has the best trade deal with the U.S. relative to other countries reeling from Mr. Trump’s tariffs.
The Trump administration has imposed a number of sectoral tariffs that affect Canadian industry disproportionately, including a 50-per-cent levy on steel and aluminum and a 25-per-cent levy on automobiles. Softwood lumber, too, has been hit hard. Canadian producers will soon face levies totalling more than 45 per cent after the administration announced a new 10-per-cent tariff on lumber shipments into the U.S. on top of existing duties.
On Monday, Mr. Trump set a date of Nov. 1 for imposing a 25-per-cent tariff on medium- and heavy-duty trucks, a measure previously announced along with tariffs on pharmaceuticals and furniture.
To help sectors targeted by the Trump tariffs, Ottawa has announced a series of financial aid packages. Last week, the federal government committed $400-million in low-interest loans to Algoma Steel, as part of its $10-billion Large Enterprise Tariff Loan program.
How Canada has retaliated
Canada has had retaliatory tariffs on U.S. in place since early March, stretching back to then-prime minister Justin Trudeau’s time. After taking office, Mr. Carney partly rolled them back in April and further scaled them back in late August.
He had dropped that latest batch of retaliatory tariffs in a bid to revive talks after they had stalled for weeks. At the time, he said that they would be removed on U.S. goods “specifically covered” under USMCA, explaining it was a goodwill gesture that followed Mr. Trump’s carve-out for USMCA-compliant goods. But in September, CBC first reported that Ottawa quietly scaled back its countermeasures. It removed all tariffs on U.S. goods except for steel, aluminum and automobiles, according to government documents published online.
Canada's supply-management system, which limits dairy imports, has been a long-running trade irritant for the U.S. and Mr. Trump.Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press
What Trump wants
The Trump administration has repeatedly tied its tariffs on Canada (and Mexico) to fentanyl and border security issues. In Canada’s case, the U.S. slapped 25-per-cent “fentanyl tariffs” on Canadian goods – with some carve-outs – accusing it of allowing the synthetic opioid to pour in through its border. The administration’s claim has been debunked. (That 25-per-cent tariff was later raised to 35 per cent.)
Still, Ottawa responded to Mr. Trump’s complaint by appointing a fentanyl czar to combat the opioid trade. On the border security front, the Carney government has sought to shore up measures, including through Bill C-2, which would significantly limit who is allowed to pursue refugee claims. (The government is reportedly planning to table a new version of the bill after critics raised privacy concerns.)
Canada also faced pressure to rescind its planned digital services tax, and ultimately did in late June after Mr. Trump said he would call off trade talks. The 3-per-cent levy on Canadian revenue from digital services would have applied to tech giants such as Google, Meta and Amazon.
There’s one area – and a long-running trade irritant – that Canada has not ceded ground on yet: dairy. The U.S. President has repeatedly complained about Canada’s supply-management system, saying it acts a barrier for the American agriculture industry.
The Globe previously reported that Ottawa is considering changes that would allow more U.S. dairy products in the Canadian market, according to sources familiar with the government’s industry consultation process. Such a concession would address one of Mr. Trump’s most significant irritants with Canada. When pressed about the matter before a Senate committee, Minister for Canada-U.S. Trade Dominic LeBlanc said “there will not be an increase of quotas” and vowed the government would not scrap the supply-management system.
Mr. Carney and Mr. Trump talk before a group photo at the G7 Summit in Kananaskis, Alta., in June. The Prime Minister has been on friendlier terms with Mr. Trump than his predecessor, Justin Trudeau.Mark Schiefelbein/The Associated Press
State of Trump-Carney relations
This latest visit was organized when Mr. Trump and Mr. Carney ran into each other last month at the United Nations, according to one U.S. industry source. Both agreed to meet to talk more at length.
Mr. Carney’s first visit to the White House ended without progress on a trade deal, but also without any flare-ups – a win of sorts for the new Prime Minister after Mr. Trudeau’s tense relationship with the U.S. President. Several times during their tête-à-tête, Mr. Trump had praised Mr. Carney and pointedly noted preferring him over his predecessor.
Still, Mr. Carney hasn’t been spared from Mr. Trump’s ire. The Prime Minister was forced to defend his decision to recognize a Palestinian state, a move that the U.S. President said risked hurting trade talks. In July, Mr. Trump had warned in a Truth Social post that it would be “very hard” for the U.S. to reach a deal with Canada.
Though the war in Gaza is not the focus of their visit, Tuesday’s meeting coincides with the second anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack.
With reports from Steven Chase, Robert Fife, Adrian Morrow, Jason Kirby and The Canadian Press