Talks between Canadian and American negotiators dragged on into Friday night in Washington as the midnight deadline approached, with no deal yet announced. “We have more work to do,” Dominic LeBlanc, a top Canadian negotiator, told reporters as he left the U.S. trade representative’s office with just over four hours left until the deadline. Details of the talks, which President Trump had hailed earlier this week as successful and described as a “good deal,” were unclear. But the discussions focused on a series of issues that make up the broader mosaic of trade disagreements between the two countries. “The deal with Canada is moving forward, we should be able to make a deal with Canada,” Trump said Friday afternoon, adding, “I only make good deals.” automobiles. This came against the backdrop of the Trump administration refusing to renew the long-term US-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement, forcing it into annual reviews and injecting volatility into the cornerstone of North American trade. The original deadline for the new tariffs had been set for earlier this week, but Trump extended it to midnight Friday, meaning the tariffs would take effect at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, citing good progress in negotiations. On the Canadian side, concessions were already taking shape, highlighting the predicament Prime Minister Mark Carney finds himself in. In a call with Canada’s provincial leaders on Wednesday afternoon, Mr. Carney asked them to restore sales of American liquor. Most premiers had banned the sale last year in retaliation for US tariffs on key Canadian industries, and the issue had become a sore point for the Trump administration. Wab Kinew, Manitoba’s premier, told reporters Thursday that he respected Carney’s request but urged Canadians “if you see the American beverage on the shelves, leave it there.” Trump’s ego? No, I don’t think we will,” Kinew said of the emerging deal. Another apparent concession from Canada would be to eliminate retaliatory tariffs on American cars. Canada could also abandon measures to limit or tax U.S. online streaming services and online news distribution, which are intended to protect and support Canadian competitors. Talks are still underway and go far beyond tying up loose ends, according to people in the U.S. and Canada who are familiar with the negotiations and spoke on condition of anonymity. to discuss diplomacy. The sticking points center on the three key Canadian industries that Trump hit with tariffs of up to 50 percent last year: steel, aluminum and lumber. The United States has discussed reducing tariffs on some Canadian steel and aluminum exports from 50 percent to 25 percent, three people familiar with the plans said. That would still be about double the rate Canada is seeking. And only a certain volume of Canadian steel exports would qualify for the lower tariff. proposed, another person familiar with the negotiations said. Domestically, the Trump administration is facing pushback on the proposal from U.S. steelmakers, which have argued that the change would undermine their production. For the auto sector, a tariff Trump imposed last year could be reduced from 25 percent to 15 percent, at a discount to the value of American parts, three other industry executives said. Despite the more positive atmosphere in recent days, the relationship between the two countries has rarely been. more tense than during Trump’s second term. Last month he called Canada’s leadership “disgusting,” has repeatedly raised the annexation of Canada as the 51st state and has questioned the country’s ability to be independent without favorable treatment from the United States. Carney came to power last spring when a no-nonsense financial expert hoped to confront Trump and reach a deal with him. He has spent most of his time in power trying to rapidly expand Canada’s trade and investment ties with other regions, particularly. in Asia and Europe, to reduce the country’s dependence on the United States. At home, he will face the challenge of convincing both the public and the premiers of provinces such as Ontario and British Columbia that the emerging agreement is good for the country, even though it includes long-term pain in the form of continued, albeit reduced, tariffs on industries central to those provinces. Southampton, New York, earlier this week, which were published by The Canadian Press. Vance said in the private meeting that Mr. Carney “comes in, sticks his chest out and says, ‘I’m going to outdo Donald Trump,’” according to the report. “It’s hilarious because Carney presents this as some kind of victory for Canada when, fundamentally, they’re down on a lot of issues,” Mr. Vance added.
