Canada minister responsible for U.S. trade to meet with USTR’s Greer

The Front Bench panel discusses Minister LeBlanc’s U.S. trip ahead of the July 1 deadline for CUSMA talks, which officials say is ‘a checkpoint, not a cliff.’

OTTAWA -- Canada’s minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade, Dominic LeBlanc, will meet U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Tuesday, the minister’s office said in a statement on Monday, after Canada was left out of bilateral trade talks between the U.S. and Mexico last week.

Chief Trade Negotiator to the United States Janice Charette will accompany him, the statement said.

The statement did not specify the purpose of the meeting.

The United States and Mexico on Friday concluded their first round of bilateral talks on revising the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), discussing automotive rules of origin, steel and aluminum trade, and economic security, the U.S. Trade Representative’s office said.

Canada has not yet started formal negotiations on the trade deal, which must be reviewed by July 1. If all three countries do not agree to extend it, the pact would move to annual reviews until 2036.

Greer has indicated that Canada may have to accept some form of tariffs if it wants to engage with the U.S. on reviewing the agreement.

Greer has also said the revised deal should include stricter automotive rules of origin and provide greater access to Canadian markets for U.S. businesses, such as in dairy.

Restrictions on liquor sales from Canadian provinces have also been a source of friction with the U.S. administration.

Reporting by Promit Mukherjee; Editing by Nia Williams, Reuters