Canada’s Carney says US drops red lines in trade talks

Prime Minister Mark Carney said Tuesday, Nov. 3, that "more intense" trade negotiations with the United States have started since his weekend call with President Donald Trump. He said Washington has dropped some of Canada's red lines, though no deal has been reached yet. "They're asking less and they're offering more, but we're not quite there," Carney told reporters on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda, CBC reported.ca.news.yahoo.com

These are Carney's most hopeful comments since formal talks fell apart in August. He also made clear that the main obstacles have not been settled. "We have made progress," he said, but "there are important issues on which we need to make progress," according to The Wall Street Journal's Paul Vieira.marketscreener.com

Red lines dropped

According to The Canadian Press, Carney said the issues taken off the table include language, culture and Canada's ability to negotiate trade deals with other countries. When the talks broke down over the summer, Canadian officials said US negotiators had objected to rules that make French-language content easy to find on streaming platforms such as Netflix ↗ 1.73%. They also said the Americans had tried to limit Canada's freedom to sign trade deals with other countries. "Those are now off the table. That's very welcome," Carney said, CBC reported. CTV News reported that the negotiations are going on even though no official Canadian trade delegation is in Washington.larongenow.com+2

Carney did not say which issues are still open. Autos are expected to be a main sticking point, as they were before the August collapse, according to CBC. Canada is the only Group of Seven country without a deal that eases Trump's tariffs. Ottawa wants relief from duties of up to 50% on steel, aluminum and automobiles, Dow Jones reported.ca.news.yahoo.com+1

Trump says a deal is near

Trump sounded more certain. "Canada is very good, we're going to make a deal with Canada very soon," he said in an interview with Fox News ↗ 6.56% on Tuesday, Reuters reported. He said Canada would supply fertilizer to the United States without tariffs, according to Reuters via U.S. News. On Sunday, Trump said the two countries had "the concept of a very good deal." He said it included reviving the Keystone XL pipeline with Canada paying for it, The National News Desk reported.reuters.com+2

Carney described the same call in more limited terms. "Our teams will now be working in the coming weeks to deliver that outcome," he wrote on X, according to Reuters.reuters.com

Midterms and APEC ahead

The new round of talks overlaps with Tuesday's US midterm elections. Tariffs on Canada have become an issue in border states such as Michigan and Maine, Reuters noted. Before the call, Carney said he would not sign "something for the sake of concluding it" and would wait for the next US president "if that's what it takes," The National News Desk reported. Carney said he will meet Trump in China later this month at the APEC summit, according to CBC.fox11online.com+2