“Canada – USA Tariff Wars”

Prime Minister Mark Carney has the luxury of vacationing in Tuscany as our U.S. relationship crumbles to dust but Canadians should buckle up for a rough ride.

Trade negotiators on both sides are reported to be working feverishly on a Canada-U.S. interim trade deal before Donald Trump’s new tariffs come into effect next Wednesday.

OTTAWA – Experts are warning that U.S. President Donald Trump’s threatened new set of tariffs could drive wedges between Canadian provinces, allowing the U.S. to exploit regional grievances to force trade concessions.

The tariffs would have particularly heavy impacts on industries concentrated in B.C. and in small towns across Quebec.

“There’s an awareness that Canada can be a punching bag for the United States, but different parts of the country can be treated differently,” said University of British Columbia political scientist Stewart Prest.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Canada is less than a week away from 50 per cent tariffs taking effect on nearly US$20 billion worth of exports to the United States, after the White House invoked the never-before-used Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 to impose duties on more than 400 Canadian products beginning Aug. 19.

Trade watchers said the move was designed to create leverage and force Ottawa back to the negotiating table. Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Chief Negotiator Janice Charette have heeded the call, repeatedly showing up for meetings in Washington in recent weeks to try to head off the 338 tariffs and reach a deal on the Section 232 sectoral tariffs on steel, aluminum, and lumber.

Canadian trade officials are meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in Washington once again, as both sides hustle to lock down a crucial trade deal ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s pressing tariff deadline.

Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc’s office confirmed to CBC News on Thursday morning that he and chief trade negotiator Janice Charette will meet with Greer this afternoon.

It will be the second meeting this week between the Canadian and American trade officials, and the fourth in just three weeks.

Canadian officials are weighing a proposal that would see Ottawa accept U.S. auto tariffs in exchange for a reduction on levies for vehicles compliant with USMCA, according to three sources on both sides of the border.

The proposal would also maintain an exemption for the value of American content in cars exported from Canada.

Canada’s lead trade negotiator with the U.S. Janice Charette has warned her American counterparts that if the White House imposes new 50 per cent tariffs on Aug. 19, it could put further trade talks at risk.

Industry sources tell CTV News there was no ultimatum given to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, but that he does understand the reality of the situation.

Charette’s comments were first reported by The Globe and Mail on Wednesday.

At Northern Cable, the machinery that churns out steel-clad cable runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The push isn’t driven by a flood of new orders. It’s driven by fear.

The Canadian company is rushing to fill warehouses across the United States. It is one of many businesses making goods in Canada for U.S. customers that now face pressure to move their factories south of the border to avoid President Trump’s 50 percent tariffs, which are scheduled to start next week, on their products.

OTTAWA – Canada could lose 102,000 jobs if the Canada-U.S.-Mexico agreement on trade breaks down, a new report warns.

The report, prepared for the Canadian American Business Council by Oxford Economics, studied the potential economic consequences of CUSMA negotiations, including termination of the deal.

The report says the United States would lose 214,000 jobs in 2027 if CUSMA died.

Tick, tick, tick. That’s the sound of the timer counting down to Aug. 19, the date on which U.S. President Donald Trump’s 50 per cent tariffs on Canada will kick in. Or not. Already one former Trump advisor is predicting that Trump will TACO (Trump always chickens out), but in the unpredictable world we live in, there’s no guarantee.

Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc and his American counterpart are aiming to present U.S. President Donald Trump a path to a potential trade deal as early as Monday, CBC News has learned.

Sources who were recently briefed on the matter say the hope is the joint proposal can be presented to Trump at least a day before the president’s latest tariff deadline.