LeBlanc set to meet U.S. commerce secretary after Canada drops some tariffs

Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc is set to meet with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in Washington this week after Ottawa announced it would be lifting some retaliatory tariffs.

LeBlanc's office says he will travel to the United States capital on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced last Friday that Canada will drop some retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products to match American tariff exemptions for goods covered under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on trade, called CUSMA.

WATCH | LeBlanc said Friday that Canada still holds 'lots of cards':

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on Friday that Canada would be dropping retaliatory tariffs against non-CUSMA-compliant American imports effective Sept. 1. But critics say Canada has given up some leverage in doing so. The minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade, Dominic LeBlanc, joins Power & Politics to discuss.

Canada's counter-tariffs on steel, aluminum and automobiles will remain.

LeBlanc has said the retaliatory tariffs were a major sticking point in negotiations ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to boost duties on Canada to 35 per cent earlier this month.

Those tariffs do not apply to CUSMA-compliant goods but Canada is also being hammered by Trump's separate tariffs on key sectors.