Trump sees Canada deal ‘fairly soon,’ downplays quitting CUSMA

OTTAWA — U.S. President Donald Trump said a trade deal with Canada could come “fairly soon” and downplayed any move to leave the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement, softening the tone after weeks of escalating tariffs.

Asked in Dublin whether Washington intended to quit CUSMA, Trump said the U.S. would have “a great relationship with Mexico” and “We actually have a good one with Canada.” He tied progress to farm access: “Canada has to treat our farmers better, and they can’t charge our farmers tariffs. They’re charging our farmers 400 per cent tariffs and many other things, so when those things go away, they’re willing to get rid of it all… You’ll probably see a deal with Canada fairly soon.”

August talks on a broader deal collapsed, after which Trump imposed 50% levies on billions of dollars of Canadian goods. Prime Minister Mark Carney retaliated on Sept. 8 with tariffs on U.S. consumer goods and lifted many U.S. steel duties to 50% from 25%; Trump answered with further bans and expanded duties. Carney has since said another Canadian retaliation round looks unlikely and that the latest U.S. measures would have only a “modest” overall impact, while confirming a recent call with Trump on geopolitics.

For Canadian households and factories, “fairly soon” is still vapour until tariffs actually unwind — but markets will price any hint of an off-ramp as relief on input costs, border bottlenecks and the inflation that sticks when both capitals tax each other’s shelves.