Steel, aluminum tariffs are trade irritants for Canada, Carney says – National

Canada has its own trade irritants with the United States, including American tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday as the deadline for a review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Free Trade Agreement (CUSMA) nears.

Carney’s comments come days after reporting suggested the United States was seeking concessions ahead of a renegotiation of the CUSMA free trade agreement.

“What are our trade irritants? There’s a 50 per cent tariff on aluminum, 50 per cent tariff on steel,” Carney said, adding that American tariffs on Canada’s auto manufacturing industry and forest products sector were also among the “irritants.”

“Those are more than irritants. Those are violations of our trade deal,” Carney added.

He acknowledged, though, that both sides had “trade irritants” that needed to be ironed out.

“There’s two parties in a negotiation. We’re not sitting here taking notes and taking instruction from the United States,” Carney told reporters in Ottawa Thursday.

When asked what specific trade issues the U.S. has raised issues with, Carney pointed to “provincial actions.”

“These are provincial actions, with respect to alcohol on the shelves,” he added.

In a social media post on Wednesday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford doubled down on his ban on American booze.

“I want to be clear: American alcohol will only go back on shelves when the U.S. removes its tariffs,” he said.

Following U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement of tariffs on Canada, several Canadian provinces decided to pull millions of dollars of U.S. made alcohol off their shelves in February.

Currently, all but two provinces – Alberta and Saskatchewan – have bans on the sale of U.S. booze.

The U.S. alcohol industry has raised concerns over falling exports, with data from the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States showing that U.S. booze exports to Canada fell 70 per cent in December, compared to the same period the year before.

The U.S. government is taking note of Canada’s booze bans. In a report on foreign trade barriers released last month, the U.S. Trade Representative said the provincial bans were raising “serious concerns” in the Trump administration.

The administration will continue to “press Canada” to remove these bans as CUSMA talks shape up, the USTR report said.

When asked if he would ask Ford to “cool it,” Carney said, “He’s the client (for American alcohol). He’s also the duly elected premier of Ontario. He’s got a majority.”

Some in the U.S. have a “misimpression” of the degree to which Canada was reliant on the U.S., Carney said.

“Yes, it is our biggest trading partner by far. We are also their second biggest trading partner. There is a symbiosis between the two,” he said.

“Canadians get that. I’m not sure everyone south of the border understands that to the extent it is true,” he added.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Carney had said Canada would not make any more trade concessions to get to the table with the U.S. on trade talks.

While heading into a Liberal caucus meeting in Ottawa on Wednesday, Carney was asked by reporters: “would Canada make any more concessions to get to the table with the U.S.?”

Carney said, “No.”

This came as CBC News reported that the Trump administration is demanding what amounts to an “entry fee” – or a series of concessions – from Canada to engage in trade talks toward a revised Canada-United States-Mexico-Agreement (CUSMA).

On Thursday, Carney said he didn’t know where talk of an “entry fees” was coming from.

“(It is) certainly not coming from me, It’s not language I’ve ever used and it’s not language I’ve ever heard from the President of the United States,” he added.

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