Greer Dims Hopes for Canada Trade Deal

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Thursday the outstanding trade disputes with Canada are "quite difficult to resolve," a downbeat assessment that undercuts President Donald Trump's prediction of a Canada trade deal within weeks.

Greer spoke to reporters at the G20 meeting of trade ministers in Milwaukee, where he said technical talks between American and Canadian trade experts continue but fundamental disagreements remain. "The reality is there are a handful of outstanding issues that are quite difficult to resolve," Greer said, according to CBC News.

Trump struck a very different note on Monday. In the Oval Office, he called Canada "one of the worst countries in the entire world," accused Ottawa of treating the United States "very unfairly," and claimed Canada imposes tariffs of 400 percent or more on American farm goods, as reported by The Hill. Trump predicted Canadian officials would soon come to Washington to apologize, and predicted the United States would win everything in the fight.

Hours after those remarks, a U.S. ban on nearly one billion dollars in Canadian imports took effect at 12:01 a.m. ET on Tuesday. The order covers specified Canadian alcoholic beverages, dairy products, molasses, and large-engine motorcycles. Trump signed the proclamations on September 8 under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, citing "discrimination" against American equivalents, after several Canadian provinces pulled U.S. liquor from store shelves in response to earlier American tariffs.

The August talks fell apart

The ban is the latest escalation in a dispute that has run all year. Bilateral trade talks collapsed on August 21, when Prime Minister Mark Carney pulled his negotiators back from Washington after what he described as a series of last-minute American changes that would not work for Canada.

Ottawa named three problems. Canadian officials worried that U.S. tariffs on medium- and heavy-duty trucks could make a General Motors plant in Oshawa, Ontario, which builds Chevrolet Silverados, uncompetitive and imperil planned production of Ford F-250s in Oakville, Ontario. Carney also rejected proposed deal language he described as limiting Canada's ability to make trade deals with other countries, a provision he framed as a threat to Canadian sovereignty. A third irritant was U.S. opposition to Canadian rules promoting the discoverability of French-language programming on streaming services, according to CBC News.

Nothing Greer said Thursday suggested any of that has moved. Speaking to Bloomberg News from Milwaukee, he downplayed the president's timeline, saying he would emphasize the "may" in Trump's remark about a possible deal in a few weeks. Greer also put the question to Ottawa, asking whether Canada wants to get to "yes" on the outstanding items. The United States, he said, is "not inclined to go to zero tariffs" because it is trying to reshore manufacturing. "Gaps remain between Canada and the United States," he added.

Ottawa pushes back

Carney laughed when CBC News asked him about Trump's prediction that Canada would soon apologize. The prime minister said Canada "stands ready to negotiate in good faith" and would keep working toward an arrangement that respects the sovereignty of both countries. He said this week he believes a "mutually advantageous trade arrangement" with the United States is still possible at some point in the future.

Canada's international trade minister, Maninder Sidhu, met Greer in Wisconsin on the sidelines of the summit. In an interview with CBC News afterward, Sidhu said he pressed for the two countries to find a way to work together, especially for auto supply workers. He called the conversation "very cordial" and said there was energy on both sides. Ottawa's position has not softened, he said: Canada wants a good deal and will not accept less.

Ottawa has answered Washington's tariffs with countermeasures, matching American duties dollar for dollar at rates of 15, 25, or 50 percent. Canadian officials also note the tariffs hit one of America's most important commercial relationships: Canada is the largest buyer of U.S. exports, purchasing more American goods than any other country.

The economic backdrop gives both sides pause. An analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data by the Economic Policy Institute found that about 62,000 manufacturing jobs have disappeared since Trump's second term began in January 2025, which sits uneasily with Greer's argument that the tariff strategy is rebuilding American industry. Greer told reporters the reindustrialization push is a universal policy, not one "focused on one country," and argued that other countries have treated the United States as a "dumping ground" for their products.

Trump's claim of Canadian tariffs above four hundred percent on U.S. farm goods does not stand up to scrutiny. Those steep Canadian dairy tariffs apply only to imports above set quotas, and the Canadian Dairy Commission has said in a statement that American dairy exports have never faced those higher rates because shipments stayed within the access levels negotiated under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

Canada looks beyond Washington

Carney has made clear Canada is not waiting for Washington to change course. He has said the country grew too reliant on what he called "easy" economic ties to the United States, leaning on a single partner for too long, and that his government's plan is "development and diversification" rather than hoping for a return to the old arrangement. That pivot includes a bid for a "unique" alliance with the European Union, which European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has backed with a proposal to make Canada the bloc's first "associate member."

Technical talks between the two countries continue, but Thursday's message from Milwaukee offered little encouragement for anyone expecting a quick deal. Carney says Ottawa is ready to negotiate a Canada trade deal. Greer says the gaps are real. The two positions do not look close to meeting.