Canada has its own trade irritants with the United States, including American tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday as the deadline for a review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Free Trade Agreement (CUSMA) nears.
Carney’s comments come days after reporting suggested the United States was seeking concessions ahead of a renegotiation of the CUSMA free trade agreement.
“What are our trade irritants? There’s a 50 per cent tariff on aluminum, 50 per cent tariff on steel,” Carney said, adding that American tariffs on Canada’s auto manufacturing industry and forest products sector were also among the “irritants.”
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“Those are more than irritants. Those are violations of our trade deal,” Carney added.
He acknowledged, though, that both sides had “trade irritants” that needed to be ironed out.
“There’s two parties in a negotiation. We’re not sitting here taking notes and taking instruction from the United States,” Carney told reporters in Ottawa Thursday.
When asked what specific trade issues the U.S. has raised issues with, Carney pointed to “provincial actions.”
“These are provincial actions, with respect to alcohol on the shelves,” he added.
In a social media post on Wednesday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford doubled down on his ban on American booze.
“I want to be clear: American alcohol will only go back on shelves when the U.S. removes its tariffs,” he said.
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Steel, aluminum tariffs are trade irritants for Canada, Carney says
