Former ambassador calls July 21 trade deadline deal with Trump ‘not realistic'
'I don't think that we're going to reach anything of a significant breakthrough by the 21st,' David MacNaughton said in an interview with CTV News on Thursday. 'I think one can always hope for the best, but I think that's not realistic at the present moment, because I think what we've got right now is (U.S.) President Trump is feeling pretty confident of his own position, not just with Canada, but elsewhere.'
MacNaughton, who served as ambassador during Trump's first term in office between 2016 and 2019, is currently a member of Prime Minister Mark Carney's Council on Canada-U.S. Relations.
Carney set the July 21 deadline after meeting with Trump last month at the G7 Summit in Kananaskis, Alta. No official from the Trump administration has publicly declared that deadline.
The two countries have been in the throes of a trade war for months since the president's first slate of tariffs on Canadian goods in February. Trump has since levied a series of sweeping and stacked tariffs on Canadian products, including a 25 per cent levy on steel and aluminum imports.
The deadline of July 21 is also the target date Carney said Canada would adjust counter-tariffs on steel and aluminum to levels 'consistent' with progress made during trade negotiation with the U.S.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Malaysia, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said the federal government is 'still hopeful' an agreement can be reached by July 21, despite the 'complex negotiation.'
'Our teams are working extremely hard behind closed doors,' Anand said. 'This is an effort that we are putting all our weight behind.'
But in an interview last week with CTV News, U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra would not commit to July 21 to finalize an agreement.
Hoekstra also made it clear every country, including Canada, is 'going to pay some level of tariff.'
'But the overall agreement, I think at the end of the day, is going to be good for Canada, and I think it's going to be good for America,' Hoekstra said.
Should supply management be put on the table?
U.S. officials, including Trump, have long objected to Canada's supply management dairy system, despite Canada agreeing to allow U.S. dairy farmers access to about 3.5 per cent of the domestic market as part of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), which was signed in 2018 during the first Trump administration.
Supply management in Canada coordinates production and maintains import controls for dairy, poultry and eggs to set stable prices for both farmers and consumers.
Asked if the policy should be part of negotiations, MacNaughton said, 'I don't see the need for us to put supply management on the table,' adding it's a 'complicated equation' since the U.S. offers subsidies to farmers to support agricultural production, while also levying tariffs on some industries like agriculture to keep imports out.
In June, the Senate also adopted Bill C-202, which is aimed at protecting supply management from any future trade deals.
Deanna Horton, who was a former Canadian diplomat and negotiator on the original North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), says like 'any negotiation, it's all about what do you have in your back pocket.'
'You have to wait until it's getting down to the wire,' Horton said in an interview with CTV News. 'My sense is that Canada will want to keep some of these things up until the last minute, including supply management.'
Canada has recently given Trump one concession during negotiations by rescinding the digital services tax less than two weeks ago.
The tax — first pitched by the Liberals in their 2021 budget — imposed a three per cent levy on revenues over $20 million from tech giants earning money off Canadian content and Canadian users, with first payments due on June 30.
But in a post to Truth Social on June 27, Trump abruptly ended trade talks over the tax. Two days later, Carney cancelled the policy and negotiations between the two countries resumed.
While describing the ongoing talks as a 'volatile situation,' MacNaughton says the federal government should be 'patient' and 'prepared to extend the discussions.'
'I think it's just a matter of not panicking because I don't think (Trump is) ready to do a deal that would be in Canada's best interest. So, I don't think we should be rushed into it,' MacNaughton added.
The former ambassador also tells CTV News that Canadians are 'going to have to suffer some pain' in the meantime.
'I think Canadians are going to have to understand that this isn't going to be simple. It's not going to happen anytime quickly,' MacNaughton said, emphasizing the ongoing work by Canada to diversify its markets.
With files from CTV News' Spencer Van Dyk
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
16 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Zelenskyy to meet with UK's Starmer as Europe braces for Trump-Putin summit
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to welcome Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in London Thursday morning, the latest meeting between the Ukrainian leader and the head of a European country as the continent braces for a critical U.S.-Russia summit in Alaska on Friday. Zelenskyy's trip to the British capital comes a day after he took part in virtual meetings from Berlin with U.S. President Donald Trump and the leaders of several European countries. Those leaders said Trump had assured them he would make a priority of trying to achieve a ceasefire in Ukraine when he meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday in Anchorage. Both Zelenskyy and the Europeans have worried the bilateral U.S.-Russia summit would leave them and their interests sidelined, and that any conclusions reached could favor Moscow and leave Ukraine and Europe's future security in jeopardy with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine now in its fourth year. Yet some of those leaders, like German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron, praised Wednesday's video conference with Trump as constructive. Speaking after the meetings to reporters, Trump warned of 'very severe consequences' for Russia if Putin does not agree to stop the war against Ukraine after their Friday meeting. Territorial integrity Starmer on Wednesday said the Alaska summit would be 'hugely important,' and could be a 'viable' path to a ceasefire in Ukraine. But he also alluded to European concerns that Trump may strike a deal that forces Ukraine to cede territory to Russia, and warned that Western allies must be prepared to step up pressure on Russia if necessary. During a call Wednesday among leaders of countries involved in the 'coalition of the willing' — those who are prepared to help police any future peace agreement between Moscow and Kyiv — Starmer stressed that any deal reached on bringing the fighting to an end must protect the 'territorial integrity' of Ukraine. 'International borders cannot be, and must not be changed by force, and again that's a long-standing principle of this group,'' he said. 'And alongside that, any talk about borders, diplomacy, ceasefire has to sit alongside a robust and credible security guarantee to ensure that any peace, if there is peace, is lasting peace and Ukraine can defend its territorial integrity as part of any deal.' Some Ukrainians skeptical With another high-level meeting on their country's future on the horizon, some Ukrainians expressed skepticism that any breakthroughs would be achieved during Friday's U.S.-Russia summit. Oleksandra Kozlova, 39, a department head at a digital agency in Kyiv, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that she believes Ukrainians 'have already lost hope' that meaningful progress can be made on ending the 3 1/2-year-old war. 'I don't think this round will be decisive,' she said. 'There have already been enough meetings and negotiations promising us, ordinary people, that something will be resolved, that things will get better, that the war will end. Unfortunately, this has not happened, so personally I don't see any changes coming.' Anton Vyshniak, a car salesman in Kyiv, said Ukraine's priority now should be saving the lives of its military servicepeople, even at the expense of making territorial concessions. 'At the moment, the most important thing is to preserve the lives of male and female military personnel. After all, there are not many human resources left,' he said. 'Borders are borders, but human lives are priceless. Therefore, some principles can be disregarded here.' Russia and Ukraine trade strikes Russian strikes in Ukraine's Sumy region overnight Wednesday resulted in numerous injuries, Ukrainian regional officials said. A missile strike on a village in the Seredyna-Budska community injured a 7-year-old girl and a 27-year-old man, according to regional governor Oleh Hryhorov. The girl was hospitalized in stable condition. In the southern Kherson region, Russian artillery fire struck the village of Molodizhne on Thursday morning, injuring a 16-year-old boy, regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin said. The teenager suffered an explosive injury, shrapnel wounds to his arms and legs and an acute stress reaction. He was hospitalized in moderate condition, Prokudin said. In Russia, an oil refinery in the Volgograd region caught fire after a Ukrainian drone attack overnight, according to local governor Andrei Bocharov. The refinery, one of the biggest producers of petroleum products in southern Russia, has been a frequent target of drone attacks, according to Russian independent news site Meduza. Overall, Russia's Defense Ministry reported destroying 44 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions and the annexed Crimea overnight. In Belgorod, the biggest city in the namesake region on the border with Ukraine, three civilians were injured in a Ukrainian drone attack, Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said, adding that a government building was hit by the attack. ___ Follow AP's coverage of the war in Ukraine at
Globe and Mail
26 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
Some Air Canada flights to be cancelled today as clock ticks toward work stoppage
Some Air Canada flights that were scheduled to take off today will be cancelled as the airline braces for a work stoppage this weekend. The union that represents around 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants is poised to strike just before 1 a.m. on Saturday, as the airline also plans to lock out those workers. Air Canada says it will begin cancelling flights today, with more disruptions Friday and a complete stoppage by Saturday if it doesn't reach a last-minute deal with the flight attendants' union. It says customers whose flights are cancelled will be eligible for a full refund, and it has also made arrangements with other Canadian and foreign carriers to provide alternative travel options "to the extent possible." Meanwhile, the airline says it has requested government-directed arbitration. The federal government has not indicated whether it will intervene in the dispute, as federal Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu said in a statement Tuesday that she encourages both parties "to stay at the table until a deal is found." This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 14, 2025. Companies in this story: (TSX:AC)
Vancouver Sun
an hour ago
- Vancouver Sun
Canadians are torn about whether to put their elbows up or down in U.S. trade war: poll
OTTAWA — Canadians are split on whether Canada should go into trade negotiations with the U.S. with elbows up or down when it comes to retaliatory tariffs, according to a new poll. The Leger/Postmedia poll suggests that 45 per cent of Canadians still believe Canada's position vis-à-vis U.S. President Donald Trump should be 'elbows up.' That means that Canada should impose counter-tariffs on all new U.S. border levies, even if it risks further retaliation from the Trump administration. But on the other hand, 41 per cent of respondents said they'd prefer Canada's response be 'measured' and focus more on getting a new trade deal even if it includes some tariffs on Canadian goods. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. The split among Canadians puts Prime Minister Mark Carney in somewhat of an 'awkward position' as he must navigate conflicting views on how to deal with an erratic and unpredictable Trump administration, said Leger executive vice-president Andrew Enns. On the one hand are those who still believe in the 'eye for an eye' approach with the U.S., and on the other hand is the growing number of Canadians who favour a slightly more conciliatory and measured approach. 'I think there's been a bit of a tempering, a bit of a diminishment of the 'elbows up' aggressive approach. It's still very present, and you know, not to be ignored,' Enns said. 'But I certainly would say that there's a stronger sort of view now starting to show up in Canadian opinion that says, 'Well hold on here, maybe we ought to think this through, let's not be hasty.' The new survey is in stark contrast to polling just six months ago, when a substantial 73 per cent of respondents told Leger they supported dollar-for-dollar retaliatory tariffs against any U.S. border levy on Canadian goods. For Enns, it means many Canadians — and particularly Gen Xers and Boomers over 55 years old who expressed particularly fierce Canadian patriotism earlier this year — are having a moment of 'sober second thought' as the trade war with the U.S. drags on. The shift in public sentiment could also be a reflection of the change in tone from Carney himself. During the Liberal leadership race in February, Carney said he supported suggestions of dollar-for-dollar retaliatory tariffs. But since becoming prime minister, he has not retaliated to any of Trump's new tariffs on such key Canadian sectors as steel, aluminum and automobiles. In fact, he suggested last week that Canada may remove some tariffs on U.S. imports if it's beneficial to Canadian industry. 'When we first started to feel the brunt of President Trump's trade aggression, you know, Canadians were much more bullish, much more aggressive in terms of retaliation,' Enns noted. 'The temperature has come down and you've got maybe a bit of sober second thought from Canadians saying that we have to figure out a way out of this and it's not going to be with ah 'I hit you, you hit me, I hit you back' kind of thing.' Canadians, however, aren't overwhelmingly supportive of opening specific industries to American competition. Roughly half the respondents said they were willing to allow American-owned airlines to fly domestic routes in Canada or authorize U.S. telecommunication companies to operate on Canadian soil. Even fewer (33 per cent) are willing to loosen supply management rules protecting the Canadian dairy industry to let in more U.S. products. 'I would not say there's a groundswell of support and a sort of blank cheque for Carney, for the prime minister, to open up negotiations on these things,' Enns said. 'But it is kind of interesting that there's about half the population that, all things equal, think 'I'm open to hearing what that would look like'.' Carney's Liberals also appear to have peaked in their popularity with Canadians this summer, the poll suggests. After months of rising support since the April 28 election, the Liberals' popularity dipped for the first time, dropping two points to 46 per cent since July 7, the poll says. But Carney's party still holds a significant lead over Pierre Poilievre's Conservatives (36 per cent) and the NDP, led by interim head Don Davies (six per cent), who both saw their parties' support increase by one point over the past month. Total satisfaction in the Carney government also dipped slightly by one point though it remains high at 54 per cent. Enns says it's too early to say Carney's honeymoon with Canadians is over, although the data suggest the prime minister may have found his popularity ceiling. 'We may have seen the high watermark for Liberal support, and as we head into the fall and some of these issues start to become more pointed… I would imagine that would be an interesting juncture for the government,' Enns said. 'It wouldn't surprise me to see a very gradual narrowing of that gap' between Liberals and Conservatives come the fall, he added. The polling firm Leger surveyed 1,617 respondents as part of an online survey conducted between Aug. 1-4. Online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not use random sampling of the population. National Post cnardi@ Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our politics newsletter, First Reading, here .
