LeBlanc heads back to U.S. for trade talks as clock ticks on tariff pause

Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc is back in Washington, D.C. on Thursday to meet with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer as the talks with the United States on a new tentative deal enter the home stretch — and as the clock ticks down on a pause for new tariffs.

After weeks of intense trade talks with the United States, which came with the threat of sweeping 50 per cent tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump hanging over the Canadian economy, the two sides appear to be closing in on a trade deal.

LeBlanc and Canada’s chief trade negotiator Charette met Greer at the United States Trade Representative’s offices.

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand is also heading to Washington for meetings with her counterpart, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, her office said on Thursday morning.

The focus of those talks will be “continental security and other global priorities.”

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said he was “skeptical” of a good faith trade deal with Trump.

“(We could have) the best deal in the world today. (If) things go off the rail in Iran for him next month, who is to say he’s not going to try and whack us on the head again?” Kinew said in a radio interview with 680 CJOB in Winnipeg.

680 CJOB is owned by Corus Entertainment, which is the parent company of Global News.

Kinew said he was not announcing a return of U.S. alcohol to Manitoba’s shelves on Thursday.

“The prime minister very clearly asked us to put the booze back. He very clearly wants this. He’s like, you know, just blame me, put this on me,” he said.

“We reserve the right to take it back off again, because we know that this guy is very erratic, the American president. And he may go back on his word, as he’s done countless times,” he added.

“No CUSMA, no Booze-ma,” Kinew said, referring to the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Free Trade Agreement.

Kinew said some sectoral tariffs are likely to stay, despite a new trade agreement.

“We got lots of people working in the steel sector in Manitoba, it’s looking like there’s still going to be a tariff on them,” he said, adding that other sectors like automobiles, softwood lumber and aluminum are also “gonna be looking at tariffs.”

“If I were leading the country, I’d fight. I think we should fight this guy (Trump),” he said.

Canada is on track to secure reductions to steel, aluminum and auto tariffs, according to a source with direct knowledge of negotiations. Premiers have also said Prime Minister Mark Carney asked provinces to restock American alcohol on their shelves as Canada finalizes the new trade deal.

“We have more work to do,” LeBlanc told reporters in Ottawa, where he travelled after meetings in Washington to attend a cabinet meeting with Carney on Wednesday afternoon.

He said Charette was still finalizing “the important work that we need to do over the next little while.”

Quebec Premier Christine Frechette says those negotiations are “far from over.”

Carney chaired a meeting of Canada’s premiers on Wednesday, “to discuss the ongoing trade negotiations with the United States,” his office said.

“The negotiations with the Trump administration are far from over,” Frechette said in a statement in French after the virtual meeting with Carney.

Frechette said she was “missing information” she needed to make appropriate decisions and was “awaiting clarifications” from Carney.

Her team and Carney’s will speak again on Thursday, Frechette said.

“This uncertainty helps neither our workers in the regions, nor our businesses that process our wood, nor our farms that produce our milk,” she added.

Several premiers, including Nova Scotia’s Tim Houston, said Carney has asked provinces to restock American alcohol on their shelves as Canada finalizes the new trade deal.

“It is Quebec, and Quebec alone, that will decide,” whether U.S. booze gets back on the shelves in the province, Frechette said.

Houston told reporters after the meeting that Carney’s request “came directly out of the negotiating table.”

“We’ll work through that process,” he said, adding that it is something he would be willing to do “pending a final deal.”

“Whether Nova Scotians or whether Canadians will actually buy it when it gets back on the shelves, that’s a whole other discussion,” he added.

Details on the exact tariff reductions that Canada could see aren’t clear, though Trump appeared to indicate some relief would take place.

“We may bring some of the tariffs down to a level where other countries are, because Canada was paying a higher tariff,” Trump said from the White House on Wednesday.

The dairy industry has emerged as a key focus for Quebec’s politicians, with questions around what kind of concessions Ottawa could offer on that front.

The White House has publicly said Canada moved on three sectors, including dairy.

The U.S. had been pushing to change the rules on what dairy products can be sold into Canada tariff-free, and while talks continue, that change now looks likely.

LeBlanc told reporters after meeting with Greer in Washington on Wednesday that the supply management system itself will remain “entirely intact.”

Canada’s “tariffs” on U.S. farmers will be “non-existent” after this deal and will be “totally eviscerated,” Trump said.

“Our farmers are going to be thrilled, our manufacturers are going be thrilled,” he said.

The Bloc Quebecois “will not accept any concessions on supply management,” Bloc Leader Yves-François Blanchet said.

Canada should not give the U.S. any “unilateral concessions” in the dairy sector, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said.

“We believe that the United State spends tens, if not hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies to its farmers, which put our producers at a competitive disadvantage,” Poilievre told reporters Wednesday.

Supply management is “essential for thousands of Quebec family businesses,” Blanchet said in a statement in French.

Last week, the Dairy Farmers of Canada and the Dairy Processors Association of Canada called on the federal government to protect Canada’s dairy sector.

“We are concerned about additional concessions after already being forced to concede significant market access through successive trade agreements, including CUSMA,” David Weins, president of Dairy Farmers of Canada said.

Supply management, which Canada uses in the dairy, poultry and egg sectors, has been a frequent target of criticism from Trump throughout his threats of tariffs and claims that Canada is “ripping us off.”

Canada uses a quota system that allows a set amount of some foreign dairy products into the country, and high tariffs only apply if countries try to exceed that allowed quota coming into Canada.

Canada’s supply management system, which dates back to the 1970s, has restricted foreign access to the Canadian dairy market in order to protect domestic producers and set quality standards for products.

Carney vowed in the 2025 Liberal election platform that he will “keep Canada’s supply management off the table in any negotiations with the U.S.”

–With files from Global’s Mackenzie Gray, Sergio Vargas and Sean Boynton