Canada and the United States are set to initiate talks on a new trade deal in early May, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on Friday, cautioning that President Donald Trump’s trade war was already beginning to impact Canada’s labour market.
Carney made the remarks in Ottawa after pausing his campaign ahead of Canada’s April 28 election to meet with cabinet members involved in managing US relations.
In his first phone call with President Trump since assuming office on March 14, Carney and the president agreed that discussions on future trade relations between Washington and Ottawa would take place after the election.
On Friday, Carney confirmed that these talks would commence within weeks. He added that Friday’s meeting focused on the ongoing global trade war, with China announcing it would raise its tariffs on US goods to 125 percent, nearly matching the hefty 145 percent tariffs the US had imposed on Chinese imports.
Carney warned that the trade conflict was contributing to “tightening in financial conditions, the initial signs of slowing in the global economy,” and having negative effects “on the Canadian labour market.”
Canadian exports in the automotive, steel, aluminium, and other select sectors are currently facing US tariffs, and thousands of Canadian auto workers have seen their hours reduced.
As America’s largest trading partner, Canada has retaliated with tariffs on select US goods.
Polling suggests Carney’s Liberal Party is poised to win the upcoming election, but the outcome could still shift in the final weeks of the campaign.
The opposition Conservatives, led by Pierre Poilievre, maintain that voters will eventually turn against the prospect of a fourth consecutive Liberal government due to frustration with soaring living costs during former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decade in power.
