Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has expressed caution after a newspaper reported he might soon sign a trade deal on steel and aluminium with the United States, saying “I wouldn’t overplay it”.
The Globe and Mail, citing sources familiar with the matter, said the agreement could be ready for Carney and US President Donald Trump to sign at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit later this month in South Korea.
Trump imposed tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminium and cars earlier this year, prompting Canada to respond in kind.
The two sides have been in talks for weeks on a potential steel and aluminium deal.
“We’ll see. We are in ongoing discussions with the Americans, and I wouldn’t overplay it,” Carney told reporters in Ottawa when pressed about the report, adding that he planned to meet Trump in South Korea.
The White House and US Commerce Department did not respond to requests for comment outside regular business hours.
The United States is not ready to make any deal on Canadian cars or on softwood lumber, a sector which has been targeted by the US for decades.
Canada will probably have to accept quotas on steel in exchange for a lower US tariff, with critical minerals off the table in these talks, sources told the Globe and Mail.
Reuters reported earlier this week that Canada offered tariff relief on some steel and aluminium products imported from the US and China, in efforts to help domestic businesses battered by trade tensions on two fronts.
Carney visited Washington DC earlier this month and said he had “a meeting of minds” with Trump on the future of the steel and aluminium sectors.
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