Canada attempts to reach a trade deal hours before Trump's deadline

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney sent his chief of staff and his minister of intergovernmental affairs to Washington on Wednesday to try to reach a trade agreement with the United States before the Friday deadline set by President Donald Trump.

Marc-André Blanchard, Carney's chief of staff, joined Minister Dominic LeBlanc in Washington to meet with senior members of President Trump's administration, the Canadian Prime Minister's Office confirmed.

Carney is scheduled to meet with his cabinet Wednesday afternoon to discuss trade negotiations with Washington, as well as the possible recognition of a Palestinian state.

Trump has set August 1 as the deadline to reach a trade agreement to avoid Canadian imports excluded from the USMCA being subject to a 35% tariff.

Both the US president and Carney have stated in recent days that they believe an agreement will not be possible before Friday.

Carney also said Monday that Canadian exports will be subject to some form of tariff in any future Canada-U.S. agreement.

The United States is Canada's largest trading partner. In 2024, 76% of Canadian exports went to the U.S.

The Trump administration has already imposed tariffs of 50% on Canadian steel and aluminum imports, 25% on automobiles, components, and other products not covered by the USMCA, and 10% on oil purchases.

In response, Canada has imposed 25% tariffs on approximately $155 billion in U.S. imports. In addition, the Canadian government applies a 25% tariff on vehicles imported from the U.S. that are not covered by the USMCA.

This Wednesday, the Bank of Canada announced that it was leaving interest rates unchanged at 2.75% for the third consecutive time due to "the high degree of uncertainty" caused by the tariff war with the United States.