By Promit Mukherjee
OTTAWA, Aug 13 (Reuters) – A Canadian government source directly familiar with trade negotiations with the United States said on Thursday that talks were progressing well and Washington also wanted an agreement before a new U.S. tariff deadline on August 19.
U.S. President Donald Trump has said he would impose new 50% tariffs on a range of Canadian imports from August 19, including goods that would otherwise qualify for an exemption under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement.
“What I’m seeing right now in terms of the negotiations, it seems to go quite well,” said a government source who did not wish to be named.
“We are also seeing some positive aspects from the U.S. too. They also want to come to an agreement before the deadline of August 19th. This is also their goal. It’s not just for us,” the source said.
Canadian minister responsible for U.S. trade relations, Dominic LeBlanc, met U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer for the second time this week on Thursday, LeBlanc’s office said in a statement, as Ottawa seeks a trade deal before U.S. tariffs take effect next week.
Canada’s chief trade negotiator, Janice Charette, will also attend the meeting, his office said.
The meeting was LeBlanc’s fourth with Greer in three weeks, as Canadian and U.S. officials hold frequent talks aimed at reaching an agreement before the new tariffs take effect next week.
“Negotiations are ongoing, and we continue to advance Canada’s interests,” LeBlanc said in a post on X.
News reports said earlier this week that the relationship between the two longtime trading partners could sour and talks could stall if the U.S. imposes new tariffs.
“Everything is on the table, including our relationship with the U.S.,” the source said.
Charette, along with a team of four or five top officials from Canada’s foreign affairs ministry, finance ministry and agriculture ministry, is regularly engaging with her counterparts in the U.S.
“We’re working quite collaboratively to come up with something, so we’ll see,” the source added.
The Premier of major grain-growing province Saskatchewan, Scott Moe, said on Thursday that the latest talks between Canada and the U.S. were encouraging, but urged to keep the broader goal of renewing the USMCA agreement as the main focus.
The U.S. Trade Representative’s office said that the new tariffs, if applied, would cover nearly $20 billion of imports from Canada, about 5.2% of the $383 billion worth of goods that the U.S. imported from Canada in 2025, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.
(Reporting by Promit Mukherjee, Additional reporting by David Ljunggren and Divya Rajagopal, Editing by Nick Zieminski and Jacqueline Wong)
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