WASHINGTON -- Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc says there is still “more work to do” to seal a trade deal with the United States just hours ahead of President Donald Trump’s midnight tariff deadline. LeBlanc left the table shortly after 7 p.m. Friday, telling reporters waiting outside that his team would continue working “up until the last minute.” “Our job is not finished,” he said. “Canadian workers, Canadian businesses expect us to do all of this important work.” LeBlanc is not expected to return to talks this evening, but Canada’s chief trade negotiator Janice Charette remained at the table. Trump said earlier Friday the trade deal with Canada is “moving along,” as his latest tariff threat on $28 billion worth of Canadian goods is set to take effect just after midnight. Speaking to reporters before boarding Air Force One just hours before that deadline, Trump said the U.S. “should” be able to reach a deal with Canada. “Pretty much, I think so, we’ll see,” the president answered when asked by a reporter whether the U.S. and Canada had come to an agreement. Trump said he’s dealt with the prime minister and that the pair have “a good relationship.” The president also said the U.S. is starting on a new deal with Mexico, adding that he only makes “good deals.” “Much better deals for the United States, both with Canada and Mexico,” he said. LeBlanc and Charette were holed up with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer at his office in Washington for most of the afternoon and into the evening Friday. Mark Wiseman, Canada’s ambassador to the United States, and Marc-Andre Blanchard, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s chief of staff, are also taking part in meetings for a second day in a row. An email from LeBlanc’s chief of staff, sent to members of the advisory committee on Canada--U.S. economic relations before Friday’s meetings began, said the negotiations remained “complex and consequential.” The email, which was obtained by The Canadian Press, said the stakes were “significant” and that media attention was intensifying. It said that pressure was being felt by Canadians across the country, adding that “those at the table are acutely aware of it.” Trump’s latest tariff threat is set to take effect 12:01 a.m. Saturday unless officials finalize a trade agreement or there’s another extension. In July, Trump said he would impose a new 50 per cent tariff on a wide range of Canadians goods in retaliation for Canada’s booze bans, auto tariffs and quotas on tariff-free access for U.S. dairy. David Wiens, president of Dairy Farmers of Canada, said in a statement Friday that the lack of specific information being provided by the government to key Canadian industries is “troubling,” since they can’t determine the potential impact on their sectors. “Earlier this week, Minister LeBlanc reaffirmed the government’s defence of supply management,” he said. “While we appreciated this statement, in the absence of details about negotiation outcomes, we remain concerned that any concessions to the United States could compromise the livelihoods of the hundreds of thousands of people working in Canada’s dairy sector.” Meg Gingrich, assistant to the national director of United Steelworkers Canada, said there are “a lot of unanswered questions.” She said if there is a reduction of tariffs on steel, that would be positive, though it “still brings us to a place where there are still tariffs in place.” “Long term, if tariffs remain in place, we might still see a decline in investment in steel in Canada,” Gingrich said. “We do have a lot of concern, but it really depends on what the details are once we see them.” The tariffs, on everything from honey and hockey sticks to essential oils and dairy products, were set to come into effect just after midnight Wednesday, but that deadline was pushed back until Saturday to allow time to turn the agreed-upon deal into a legal agreement. LeBlanc and Charette have met with Greer in Washington several times this month to hammer out the deal. LeBlanc told reporters on Thursday that the two sides were “very close” to a deal. The content of that agreement, however, has not been shared publicly. The agreement is expected to address U.S. tariffs on steel, aluminum, lumber and autos. It’s also expect to address some U.S. concerns about limited access to Canada’s dairy market, as well as Canada’s retaliatory tariffs on autos and provincial bans on U.S. alcohol imports. News publishers are worried about the prospect of the Online News Act being eliminated as part of the trade deal. “If it were to be given up as a bargaining chip in trade negotiations, the government needs to be extremely sober and clear-eyed about the immediate and catastrophic effect it would have on newsrooms across Canada,” Paul Deegan, CEO of publishers’ group News Media Canada, said in an email. The Trudeau government passed the legislation in 2023, which requires Meta and Google to compensate news publishers for the use of their content. In response to the law, Meta pulled news from its platforms in Canada, including Instagram and Facebook, while Google has been making payments from a $100-million fund. Deegan said the money news publishers receive from Google is equivalent to about 1,000 journalism jobs, or “more than a quarter of all newsroom jobs on the publishing side in Canada.” Greer referenced “digital trade alignment” between the two countries in his brief comments to media on Wednesday but it has not been made clear what he meant. Canada’s premiers have said Carney asked them to put U.S. booze back on the shelves as part of the deal. Several premiers have indicated a willingness to comply, but not all. Ontario Premier Doug Ford, whose province was the biggest importer of U.S. alcohol, has yet to comment publicly on the latest proposal. Quebec Premier Christine Frechette said Thursday after a call with Carney that she’s weighing how the deal could play out for her province. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Friday he is concerned about rumours Carney “might be willing to cave and accept one-sided tariffs.” Poilievre said this would leave sectors like steel, aluminum and autos at a disadvantage to the United States and risk seeing those jobs move south of the border. “I’m very concerned about the deindustrialization of our country if our key industries pay one-sided tariffs,” Poilievre told reporters in Kitchener, Ont. “Mr. Carney’s got to tell us how he’s going to avoid the full deindustrialization of our economy if he accepts one-sided tariffs as part of this deal. We want the good deal that Mark Carney promised. Remember, his entire election campaign was about elbows up, don’t accept a bad deal. Well, one-sided tariffs on Canadian industry would be a bad deal.” Unlike other tariffs, the duties that are on pause would affect goods that are compliant with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on trade. The tariffs would be placed on a wide variety of goods from hockey sticks and honey to concrete and plywood. With files from Craig Lord, Anja Karadeglija, David Baxter and Catherine Morrison in Ottawa and Kelly Geraldine Malone in Washington
