Carney Dined With US VP Vance, Says ‘Progress’ Achieved During Washington Visit

Prime Minister Mark Carney arrives on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Oct. 8, 2025. The Canadian Press/Spencer Colby

Prime Minister Mark Carney says there’s been progress made following his visit to the U.S. capital, which included a dinner with U.S. Vice President JD Vance.

Carney went to Washington, D.C., to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump this week to discuss trade, security, and defence. No deal was announced after the meeting, but Carney touted progress being made, and Trump said he was prepared to make new agreements with Canada.

“The Prime Minister and the President welcomed the progress achieved to date in building a new economic and security relationship between their nations,” the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in an Oct. 8 news release, adding that both leaders have directed officials to reach deals on steel, aluminum, and energy “in the coming weeks.”

Carney also met for dinner with U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance at their residence on Oct. 7, where they furthered discussions on the countries’ priorities, trade, and defence, the PMO said.

“Usha and I truly enjoyed having Prime Minister of Canada [Mark Carney] over for dinner at the Vice President’s Residence last night,” Vance said in an Oct. 8 X post.

Speaking in the House of Commons on Oct. 8, Carney said Canada has “the best deal already with the Americans, and it will be even better,” noting 85 percent of Canada-U.S. trade is tariff-free through the United States-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) free trade agreement.

“We are also working, as the President himself said in the Oval Office, on the modalities of an auto agreement,” Carney said.

Potential Deals

Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who accompanied Carney on the trip, told reporters on Oct. 7 he was “very happy” with how discussions in Washington had gone and noted there is “momentum” growing, but that “the work continues” in reaching a finalized bilateral agreement.

He said Carney and Trump made progress on deals on steel, aluminum, and energy. Carney echoed these comments while speaking virtually at an Oct. 8 conference on U.S.-Canada relations in Toronto hosted by BMO and Eurasia Group.

The United States imposed 35 percent tariffs on all Canadian goods that fall outside the USMCA at the beginning of August, along with sectoral tariffs on steel, aluminum, copper, automobiles, and softwood lumber.

Carney said there will be more bilateral deals alongside the USMCA and that the Canada-U.S. trade relationship has become more “transactional,” added that both countries are in the process of finding the right balance.

Despite Canada’s shifting trade relationship with the United States, Carney said the two countries continue to collaborate on border security, defence, and in responding to global conflicts.

Carney said during the meeting with Trump that Canada is the “largest foreign investor in the United States,” spending half a trillion dollars in the last five years, and is prepared to invest $1 trillion in the United States over the next five years if Ottawa receives the trade deal it’s hoping for.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre criticized Carney in the House of Commons on Oct. 8 for not securing a deal while at the same time promising $1 trillion in investments in the United States.

“Yesterday the prime minister promised President Trump $1 trillion of investment in the coming years if we get the deal we want,” Poilievre said. “That is investment that will leave Canada, driving mines and paper mills and factories out of Canada, leaving families without work. Why didn’t the prime minister negotiate an end to the softwood lumber tariff instead of offering this gift?”

USMCA, Golden Dome

The prime minister also met with several U.S. senators to discuss the upcoming review of the USMCA. During his meeting with Carney, Trump suggested he was looking forward to renewing the USMCA, but is also open to doing “different deals.”

“We’re allowed to do different deals,” Trump said. “If we were, we might make deals that are better for the individual. I don’t care. I want to make whatever the best deal is for this country, and also, very much with Canada in mind.”

If the USMCA is renegotiated, Trump said there would still be tariffs between Canada and the United States. Trump renegotiated the USMCA during his first term and had touted it as a major accomplishment, but has been critical of the agreement in his second term, specifically around issues like Canadian tariff quotas in its supply management system.

The two leaders also discussed cooperating in defence efforts, including those in the Arctic. Trump said the two countries would be working together on his Golden Dome missile defence system, but LeBlanc told reporters that while Canada is open to joining the endeavour, no formal agreement has yet been made.

During their meeting, Trump said Canada and the United States are in a “natural conflict” as they compete over the same industries, which in a lot of cases have operations on both sides of the border. He said the fact that the two countries are neighbours makes reaching a deal difficult.

“President Trump and I know that there are areas where our nations can compete – and areas where we will be stronger together. We’re focused on building these new opportunities to create greater certainty, security, and prosperity for our workers and businesses,” Carney said in the Oct. 8 statement.

Noé Chartier, Paul Rowan Brian, and The Canadian Press contributed to this report.