Latest news with #KirstenHillman
CTV News
13-05-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Canada's ambassador says economic talks must prioritize lifting Trump's tariffs
Canada's Ambassador to the U.S. Kirsten Hillman speaks to reporters during a cabinet retreat at Chateau Montebello in Montebello, Que., on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick WASHINGTON — Ottawa's top diplomat in Washington says talks to negotiate any new deals with the United States will prioritize ending U.S President Donald Trump's ruinous tariffs on Canadian exports. Ambassador to the United States Kirsten Hillman said Monday that initial negotiations with Trump's team will focus on lifting tariffs, as well as specific bilateral issues between Canada and the U.S. 'Dealing with those tariffs, and getting Canada into a position where we are finding stability in the trading relationship, is our number one priority with the Americans,' Hillman said. 'There is no discussion to be had with the Americans without that being on the table from Canada's perspective. That is a starting point for us.' Trump also said he wants changes to the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on trade, called CUSMA. Hillman said talks specific to the continental trade pact will take place separately at a later date. Trump slapped Canada with 25 per cent economywide duties in March, only to partially pause tariffs on imports compliant with CUSMA a few days later. Canada is also being hit with tariffs on steel, aluminum and automobiles. CUSMA was negotiated during the first Trump administration and some experts say the tariffs were meant to rattle Canada and Mexico ahead of a mandatory review next year. Hillman said in the week since Prime Minister Mark Carney met with Trump at the White House, she has spoken with United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and International Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc has been in contact with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. 'The process now will be to get those discussions started in a serious and substantive way,' Hillman said. The president and prime minister both described the encounter as cordial and productive, clearing the slate for bilateral talks that had been undermined by Trump's repeated talk of making Canada a U.S. state. While the president assured reporters in the Oval Office he was still keen on annexing Canada, he softened his tone, saying, 'It takes two to tango.' Hillman said that despite those comments, Trump repeatedly told Carney in public and behind closed doors that it was an honour to speak with him. Canadians were looking to reset the relationship with the White House and Hillman said Trump set the tone for open lines of communication and professionalism. 'They agreed to negotiate a deal that works for both countries,' she said. Trump said last Tuesday that CUSMA was very effective and is 'still very effective.' The president also described it as a 'transitional deal' and said he didn't know if it was 'necessary anymore.' Carney said Canada is also looking to change some aspects of the continental trade pact. The prime minister pointed to the national security exemptions in trade law that allowed Trump to slam Canada with tariffs — which the president linked to baseless claims about widespread fentanyl trafficking over the Canadian border. For now, Hillman said, the priority is to work on negotiations between Canada and the United States on bilateral issues like Arctic security, defence and the northern border that don't necessarily fit into CUSMA talks. 'The U.S. has been clear with us since the president took office that they are looking to have bilateral discussions with every country,' she said. 'They are engaged with a bilateral discussion with Mexico now. Mexico is in town almost every week talking to the Americans.' Trump took his trade war to the world in April with 'reciprocal' tariffs. He walked the most significant tariffs back a few hours later, putting in place a 10 per cent universal levy for 90 days, which he said would give countries time to make a deal. As other nations race to find ways to deal with the Trump administration, Hillman said she has 'every expectation that (Canada) will be able to have the time we need with the administration to deal with our issues.' 'There's a strong signal from the top level in this country that Canada is a priority,' she said. 'That's not just because the president clearly wants it to be so, but it's also because we're their biggest customer by far.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 13, 2025. Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press
CBC
09-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Trade talks in two acts: Canada-U.S. poised to negotiate in stages
Social Sharing All signs point to Canada and the United States holding trade negotiations in two separate phases — with some now on immediate irritants, and the rest next year. The process is still taking shape. But the two-step idea is emerging in comments following this week's meeting between Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump. The first phase? A fast-track push to ease tensions over tariffs and stabilize trade ties, anchored in the broader Canada-U.S. security relationship. This lets both sides sidestep the thornier formal review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), which isn't legally scheduled to start until next year. Based on Trump's own comments, it's not even clear he's wedded to preserving CUSMA as a three-country pact, let alone having assessed the technical feasibility of speeding up its negotiating timeline. Canada's ambassador to the U.S. told CBC News that the countries aren't actually looking at the broader North American pact right away. "Whether there's a possibility of that [CUSMA review] being advanced is not really under discussion right now," Kirsten Hillman said on Friday. "Right now we're focusing on the meeting, and the agreement, between the prime minister and the president, which is to have some bilateral discussions to come up with an arrangement that works for both countries. "To focus on a Canada-U.S. arrangement." She's been in contact with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, while Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc has been speaking with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Comments from the U.S. side reinforce the idea that Washington sees bilateral deals with individual countries as a greater priority than multi-country agreements. "I don't even know if we're going to be dealing with USMCA," Trump said during his Oval Office meeting with Carney, using the U.S. acronym for the North American trade pact. "We're dealing more with concepts right now." Trump praises 'great meeting' with Carney, 'big step up' from Trudeau 3 days ago Duration 1:49:34 Prime Minister Mark Carney says he told U.S. President Donald Trump that his 51st state comments are 'not useful' in their first official meeting, and Trump praised Carney as a 'very good person' — but U.S. tariffs remain in place. From Washington, Power & Politics host David Cochrane speaks with Business Council of Canada president Goldy Hyder, Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton and Ontario's representative in Washington David Paterson about how much Carney advanced Canada's cause. Look to the U.K. talks So what might such concepts look like? The U.S. ambassador to Canada pointed as a template to this week's U.S.-United Kingdom agreement, an informal arrangement that's not embedded in law. Some of the main topics of that negotiations match those expected to be on the table in Canada-U.S. talks, Pete Hoekstra told the National Post. In an interview with the Post, he mentioned the elimination of tariffs on U.K. steel and aluminum, which Canada will certainly seek. He then mentioned U.S. attempts to eliminate the U.K.'s digital-services tax — still unresolved. He added, "All I know is they're covering the same issues." As for why the U.K. has already concluded these negotiations but Canada hasn't, Hoekstra called it a priority, but said Canada's election slowed things down. The countries have since begun mapping out the basic architecture of how these negotiations will unfold. "Now begins the framework," Hoekstra said. The security element Carney raised It was Carney's idea to tie trade to a broader Canada-U.S. conversation about security. The main goal: To protect Canadian goods from tariffs on national-security grounds. What might that look like? Take the example of Canada's No. 1 most lucrative export: oil. Former Conservative leader Erin O'Toole has suggested guaranteeing the U.S. certain volumes per year at discount prices — in other words, formalizing what already happens. As for Canada's No. 2 export, autos, Carney made a cryptic comment while in Washington. He alluded to Canada being part of the solution to Trump's concern about Asian parts imports. One auto-industry official, Flavio Volpe, said Canada could seek relief from tariffs by taking several steps to assuage Trump on national security grounds. They could include preferred-customer agreements with the U.S. for coveted commodities — critical minerals, uranium, and oil and gas. It could resemble agreements Canada signed with Germany and its auto companies three years ago, said Volpe, head of Canada's national auto-parts makers' association. Canada, he said, could also guarantee to keep certain Chinese parts out of North American supply chains. These are the sorts of conversations about to begin.
Globe and Mail
08-05-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Canada won't sacrifice USMCA or vital sectors for quick deal with Trump: envoy
Ottawa isn't willing to rush a new trade pact or exchange the ratified and binding United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement for an executive handshake deal of the kind other countries are currently seeking from President Donald Trump, the Canadian ambassador to the United States says. Kirsten Hillman, speaking two days after Prime Minister Mark Carney's White House visit with Mr. Trump, said the federal government is eager to obtain the removal of U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods but not in a deal that sacrifices 'stability and a fair arrangement' for various industries. 'It would be great to do it as soon as possible, but not at the expense of getting a deal that is not going to bring us back to a place where we are able to maintain the strength of some of these core sectors that have been affected by these tariffs,' Ms. Hillman said. Canada's auto industry and steel and aluminum producers are among those industries hit by U.S. tariffs as Mr. Trump tries to force companies to shift manufacturing to the United States. Many countries are talking to Mr. Trump about trade deals after he imposed tariffs on most of the U.S.'s trading partners. He hit them in early April with what he called 'reciprocal tariffs' for what the White House says are foreign measures that treated U.S. companies unfairly. On Monday, the United States and Britain announced a limited trade deal that amounts to an executive agreement, as opposed to a binding pact ratified by the U.S. Senate, which in 2020 approved the USMCA. Trump announces U.S. trade deal with Britain, says 'final details' still to come Mr. Carney in late March announced that he and Mr. Trump had agreed that, after the April 28 Canadian election, the country's two leaders would begin 'comprehensive negotiations about a new economic and security relationship.' Business leaders and former diplomats have since argued against an overarching deal that links defence and trade because it could embolden the U.S. President to impose new tariffs if he is not happy with Canada's military expenditures. Ms. Hillman said she also sees discussions on security – including the illegal distribution of fentanyl − and matters such as critical minerals taking place separately from the renegotiation of the USCMA, which is already up for renewal in 2026. 'There are things that Canada and the United States will want to talk about between ourselves that relate more to how we operate as two countries,' she said. During his May 6 White House meeting with Mr. Carney, Mr. Trump said he's not sure that the trilateral USMCA is necessary any longer. He also, however, acknowledged that renegotiations are coming up and indicated the United States would participate. Ms. Hillman noted that Canada and the United States struck an arrangement on critical minerals during the first Trump presidency and now it's time to determine how the two countries can build on that. The Tuesday meeting at the White House yielded no measurable progress in ending Mr. Trump's trade war with Canada, but Mr. Carney avoided any sign of conflict with the mercurial President. The ambassador said she's not yet sure if USCMA renegotiations will start early as opposed to next year. More than a dozen countries have indicated that they plan trade talks with the United States in the wake of Mr. Trump's global tariff announcement. Asked whether this flurry of deal-making is a bad time for Canada to be seeking its own renegotiation, Ms. Hillman said she doesn't think so. 'I have enormous confidence in the Canadian ability to manage this relationship in all of its aspects,' she said. International trade lawyer Lawrence Herman said any deals that other countries sign with Mr. Trump will simply be a deal with the White House. 'None of these prospective Trump trade deals with other countries, unlike the USCMA, will be subject to congressional approval. Congress is out of the loop. That's the Trump method.' Ms. Hillman said Canada does not want to forgo a renewal of USCMA for an executive deal as other countries are seeking. 'It obviously is a very valuable legal framework for our trade with the United States and Mexico,' she said of USMCA. 'It's an important feature of our trade with the Americans. Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said earlier this week that it appears Americans are souring on Mr. Trump's trade wars as prices for goods rise because of the tariffs that the President has imposed on imports. Canada's ambassador to the United States said there is mounting concern among U.S. businesses and communities about the impact of the tariffs but it's unclear whether it will help the Canadian government cut a deal with Mr. Trump. 'You're hearing a lot about that here in the United States right now: the cost of everyday items, Americans suffering because they can't afford strollers or can't even find car seats,' Ms. Hillman said. Timing is very important for momentum in trade talks, she said, but whether this pressure helps clinch a deal is unknowable right now. However, she said, 'Americans wanting resolution to some of these trade challenges and prices rising is very important for us.' The current U.S. levies on Canada that remain in effect include 25-per-cent tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum, as well as a 25-per-cent tariff on Canadian-made vehicles, which applies only to the non-U.S. content in those cars and light trucks. There is also a 25-per-cent tariff – which drops to 10 per cent on critical minerals, energy and potash – for goods that don't comply with USMCA rules of origin. Canada responded with a series of countertariffs on tens of billions of dollars of U.S. imports. GM – Oshawa Vehicle: Chevrolet Silverado pick-up truck Annual production: 149,000 Employees: 3,000 hourly GM CAMI Assembly – Ingersoll Vehicle: Chevrolet BrightDrop electric delivery van, battery modules Employees: 1,300 hourly GM – St. Catharines Product: V-8 engines, transmissions Annual production: 149,000 Employees: 1,100 hourly Toyota – Cambridge and Woodstock Cambridge North products: Rav4, Lexus NXCambridge South products: Lexus RX 350, RX 350h, 500hWoodstock products: Rav 4, Rav 4 hybrid, Hino commercial trucks Annual production: 533,000 Employees: 8,500 Honda – Alliston Vehicles: Civic, CR-VAnnual production: 420,550 Employees: 4,200 Ford – Oakville Status: Closed for retooling. Expected to open in 2026 to make F250 pick-up trucksEmployees: 3,600 hourly Ford – Windsor Product: 7.3-litre V-8 enginesEmployees: 950 Ford – Essex Product: 5-litre V-8 enginesEmployees: 930 hourly Stellantis – Brampton Status: Closed for retooling end of 2023. Retooling paused in February, 2025. Expected to reopen by 2026 to make the Jeep 3,000 hourly Stellantis – Windsor Vehicles: Chrysler Pacifica, Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid, Chrysler Grand Caravan and electric Dodge Charger DaytonaAnnual production: 135,000 Employees: 3,600 hourly
