LeBlanc will meet with Greer as clock ticks down toward looming 50% tariffs

Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc will meet with Jamieson Greer, the U.S. trade representative, in Washington Thursday afternoon as trade talks continue with less than a week to go before a fresh round of American tariffs hit Canada.

Canada’s chief negotiator, Janice Charette, will also be part of those talks, LeBlanc’s office says.

“Discussions remain ongoing, and we continue to engage at the negotiation table to firmly advance and defend Canadian interests,” LeBlanc said in a statement.

While Canada has been dealing with U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs for more than a year, including with sectoral tariffs on steel, aluminum and automobiles, the vast majority of Canadian goods traded under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Trade Agreement (CUSMA) have been exempt from the tariffs.

This could change on Aug. 19.

Trump has vowed to hit Canada with new sweeping 50 per cent tariffs on a wide range of goods.

Trump’s decision to impose 50 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods was in response to what the U.S. calls “discriminatory” measures.

Trump signed three executive orders, each one using a different justification for the new tariff: the provincial and territorial boycotts on American alcohol products, Canada’s retaliatory tariffs on U.S.-made vehicles and auto parts, and quotas on American dairy imports under Canada’s supply management system.

In early 2025, several Canadian provinces removed U.S. alcohol from their shelves in response to Trump’s trade war and threats to make Canada the “51st state.”

The trade negotiations have hit several snags with the Americans refusing to accept a deal that does not include at least some tariffs on steel, aluminum, automobiles and softwood lumber, sources told Global News.

Sources added, however, that Canada is willing to “walk away” and let tariffs hit next week if there isn’t a substantial reduction in sectoral tariffs.

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Both sides are working to present a deal to Trump and Prime Minister Mark Carney before Aug. 19, they said.

If the CUSMA deal breaks down, it would lead to more than 100,000 job losses in Canada and more than twice that in the United States, a report warned earlier this week.

In July, Washington said it won’t renew the deal, known as USMCA in the U.S., in its current form. That means the trade deal must be reviewed annually, adding to the volatility and economic uncertainty facing businesses.

A lot is riding on the deal being renewed, the report by the Canadian American Business Council warns.

“Successful renegotiation of USMCA would create an additional 137,000 American jobs and 98,000 Canadian jobs in 2027 relative to the status quo,” the report reads.

Around two in five Canadian exporters said they currently export a product to the U.S. that would fall under the scope of the new incoming tariffs, a survey from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business said on Wednesday.

Of these, more than three-quarters (77 per cent) said they expect to lose revenue if the tariffs go ahead and more than one in three (35 per cent) said they stand to lose at least half or more of their revenues.

Businesses have started battening down the hatches ahead of the next round of tariffs, a survey by Canadian business financing solutions firm Merchant Growth has found.

More than six in 10 small businesses surveyed told Merchant Growth that they have at least some reliance on the U.S., while 13 per cent said the relationship with the U.S. was “core” to their business.

More than half (55 per cent) have cut spending, while a quarter (25 per cent) have delayed hiring. Another quarter said they’ve raised prices for consumers.

–with files from Global’s Mackenzie Gray and Reggie Cecchini