Minister won’t say if Liberals are open to renegotiate free trade deal

Article content

OTTAWA — Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said Monday the federal government is preparing for the 2026 review of the free trade agreement between Canada, the U.S., and Mexico, but is staying mum on whether Canada is willing to open that deal up any earlier, as a way to mitigate U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat of tariffs. 

Article content

Article content

Joly is set to travel to Washington to meet with Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday, just days before the Feb. 1 date that Trump mused as his latest deadline for imposing a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian goods, which he has been warning about since shortly after his election win last November. 

Article content

Citing concerns about people crossing into the U.S. illegally from Canada, as well the flow of the deadly drug fentanyl from the Canada-U.S boundary, Trump’s threatening of tariffs has consumed Canadian business and political leaders, who have been making their case directly to Trump’s administration and across American airwaves that imposing such stiff levies would be bad for both countries’ economies.

The government has also said the Canada-U.S. boundary is not the problem when it comes to Trump’s immigration and drug concerns.

Speaking to reporters on Monday after members of Trudeau’s cabinet met to discuss the situation with the U.S., Joly said Trump is using tariffs “as a way to put pressure on countries,” adding she expects him to continue to do so.

Trump recently did so when he encountered issues with Colombia accepting flights of migrants who had been deported from the U.S.

The Canadian government’s first priority is to prevent any tariffs, Joly said, adding she has been in contact with her counterparts in Mexico and Europe.

Article content

Article content

Trump’s tariffs threats have also driven debate in the Liberal leadership race to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Former finance minister Chrystia Freeland said Monday she would publish a list of $200 billion worth of U.S. products that could be susceptible to retaliatory tariffs, while former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney told Radio-Canada that the country should be open to curbing electricity exports to the U.S. in response.

A report by The Wall Street Journal last week said Trump is vying for an earlier renegotiation of the free trade agreement with the U.S., Canada and Mexico, which is currently scheduled for its first review, set for July 2026. Upon taking office, Trump signed an executive order instructing its trade representative to begin consultations and for department heads to study how the trade pact has impacted American workers across different sectors. Trump has said his threat of tariffs is directly related to concerns about border security.

Asked whether Canada was willing to renegotiate the deal to address Trump’s ongoing trade concerns, including on an earlier timeline, Joly would only say officials are working to ensure the country is ready for 2026.

Article content

“What we learned about the (Canada-United States-Mexico- Agreement) at the time was it is important to have (a) process in place,” she said Monday.

“We now have a process, the process is through the executive order and we’ll participate.”

She added: “The executive order already specifies that there is a process that prepares for eventually that renegotiation, which is set in 2026.”

Canada launched its own set of public consultations on the deal last August.

Next year marks six years from when the existing trade deal Canada signed with the U.S. and Mexico came into force in Canada. That agreement replaced the North America Free Trade Agreement, which the countries renegotiated to produce the updated agreement, over concerns cited by Trump during his first term in office.

Trudeau told CBC News last week that Canada negotiated for a review to happen in 2026.

“We negotiated a review in 2026. That’s part of the negotiations. It’s a review and it’ll happen and were always ready to talk.”

Former Trump administration official Everett Eissenstat told the broadcaster over the weekend that Canada should start that review right away, given Trump has once again set his sights on the trade deal.

Article content

During a virtual speech to the World Economic Forum last week, Trump voiced concerns about having a trade deficit with Canada, saying America did not need its oil, lumber or automotives.

The federal government has been pushing back on Trump’s assertions, saying more than eight million jobs in the U.S. are connected to trade with Canada.

National Post

staylor@postmedia.com

Get more deep-dive National Post political coverage and analysis in your inbox with the Political Hack newsletter, where Ottawa bureau chief Stuart Thomson and political analyst Tasha Kheiriddin get at what’s really going on behind the scenes on Parliament Hill every Wednesday and Friday, exclusively for subscribers. Sign up here.

Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our politics newsletter, First Reading, here.

Article content