Canada and US Trade Officials Head Back to Washington With No Deal Yet, Six Days Before Tariff Deadline

Canadian and American trade officials wrapped up another round of talks in Washington on Thursday without a finalized deal, six days before fifty percent tariffs are set to hit close to twenty billion dollars a year in Canadian exports.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said both President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Mark Carney will now be presented with options following the latest session, a description that suggests negotiators have narrowed the field of possible outcomes without settling on one. Canada’s minister responsible for the file, Dominic LeBlanc, has met with Greer several times in recent weeks as both sides work against the clock.
Provincial leaders are pushing Ottawa to hold firm. Ontario Premier Doug Ford has continued to press for a tough line, framing the dispute in terms of upcoming US midterm elections, while Quebec Premier Christine Frechette said in a statement that her province will keep US alcohol off Societe des alcools du Quebec shelves until an agreement it considers fair has been reached. The alcohol bans, imposed by several provinces after an earlier round of tariffs last year, fall under exclusively provincial jurisdiction, meaning any resolution will need buy in from premiers of differing political stripes rather than from Ottawa alone.
The stakes extend well beyond symbolism. An analysis from the Business Council of Canada warned that a full breakdown in talks could cost roughly 102,000 Canadian jobs, and council chief executive Goldy Hyder said the situation underscores the difficulty of negotiating trade policy inside a federation where provinces control key levers like alcohol sales. Frechette is separately seeking reduced tariffs on aluminum without conceding significant ground on dairy, a balance that has proven difficult to strike given competing regional interests within Canada itself.
Carney has said consistently since taking office that no deal is better than a bad one, a position that has drawn both support and anxiety as the deadline approaches. It remains unclear whether the Trump administration is prepared to ease the Section 232 tariffs at the centre of the dispute, or whether a renewed Canada United States Mexico Agreement remains realistic in the longer term. Canadian and US officials are reportedly aiming to have a proposed deal structure in front of both leaders before next Wednesday.