Mark Carney said on Dec. 18 that a separate, sectoral Canada‑U.S. trade deal is now unlikely and that outstanding tariff issues will be handled during a USMCA review next year. Talks to resolve U.S. steel, aluminum and auto tariffs had advanced but were frozen in October after an anti‑tariff ad by Ontario's government. Carney said overlapping timelines make a standalone sectoral agreement improbable, meaning industry relief may arrive more slowly as part of broader negotiations.
Carney: Separate Canada‑U.S. Sectoral Trade Deal Now Unlikely; Issues To Be Folded Into USMCA Review
Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney makes an energy-related announcement at the Calgary Chamber of Commerce in Calgary, Alberta, Canada November 27, 2025. REUTERS/Todd Korol
OTTAWA, Dec 18 — Mark Carney said on Thursday that a planned, sector-specific trade agreement between Canada and the United States is now unlikely and that outstanding issues will be addressed as part of a broader review of the United States‑Mexico‑Canada Agreement (USMCA) next year.
The two sides had been close to a targeted deal to resolve U.S. tariffs on steel, aluminum and autos, but negotiations were frozen in October after Ontario's provincial government ran an advertisement opposing the tariffs.
"My judgment is that that is now going to roll into the broader USMCA negotiation. So we're less likely, we're unlikely, given the time horizons coming together, to have a sectoral agreement," Carney told reporters in Ottawa.
The comments signal that rather than separate, rapid fixes for steel, aluminum and automotive tariffs, policymakers will try to resolve these sectoral disputes within the timetable and scope of the upcoming USMCA review. That approach could lengthen the timeline for any concrete relief for affected industries.
Negotiators on both sides had viewed a sectoral agreement as a faster route to address industry-specific disruptions, but political sensitivities — including public campaigns and intergovernmental messaging — helped stall momentum in the autumn.
Background: The tariffs and countermeasures have strained trade ties between Canada and the United States and prompted industry concern across affected supply chains. Folding the issues into the USMCA review could mean broader, but slower, negotiations involving Mexico and other cross-cutting trade rules.
(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
