Progress on Ending Trump’s Tariffs on Canada Too Slow: LeBlanc

Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc rises during question period on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on May 28, 2025. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld

Canada’s minister responsible for trade negotiations with the United States says discussions about tariff removal are not advancing quickly enough, casting doubt on the possibility of a deal being announced during this week’s G7 summit.

Trade talks with the United States are “frequent and constructive” but not enough progress has been made since U.S. President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on Canada earlier this year, Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc said in a June 15 interview on Global News’ “The West Block.”

“I’m hopeful we'll get there, but it’s not fast enough,” said LeBlanc, who is one of the several key ministers engaged in negotiations with the Trump administration. “Our hope was that we would have made more progress before the president arrived in Alberta for the G7. We haven’t yet hit that sweet spot.”

Prime Minister Mark Carney met with Trump this morning ahead of the formal G7 leaders’ session in Kananaskis, Alta., where the G7 summit is currently taking place. The tariffs levied around the globe by the Trump administration is expected to be a major focus of discussions during the summit.

Speaking to reporters after the bilateral meeting with Carney, Trump said reaching a deal with Canada within the next few days or weeks is “achievable.”

Canada is currently grappling with three separate rounds of U.S. tariffs, including a 50 percent levy on steel and aluminum. Trump doubled the tariff on steel and aluminum earlier this month after implementing a 25 percent tariff on the products earlier this spring.

Carney and Trump have spoken “on several occasions” since their first meeting at the White House in May, LeBlanc said.

“Those conversations, (from) my understanding, aren’t exclusively on one particular subject,” he said, noting that the summit will provide “an opportunity to continue that conversation.”

Potential for Tariff Retaliation

LeBlanc said he is “optimistic” that the United States will eventually drop the tariffs because of the impact on its own industries, but said Canada can’t wait indefinitely for that to happen.

If progress on a deal isn’t reached during the G7 summit, then “the country will look at what might be further measures to retaliate against that doubling of the steel and aluminum,” LeBlanc said.

LeBlanc did not say what those countermeasures might entail, or if Ottawa views the G7 summit as a deadline for their implementation.

Ottawa enacted import taxes of 25 percent on roughly $60 billion of U.S.-manufactured goods in March as a countermeasure to the first wave of tariffs from the Trump administration. Canada also responded to U.S. auto tariffs in early April by implementing its own duties on American vehicles.

Carney’s government has announced a six-month partial tariff exemption since being elected at the end of April. The exemption applies to products used in Canadian manufacturing, processing, and food and beverage packaging, as well as for items associated with health care, public safety, and national security.

Ottawa is currently imposing 25 percent tariffs on imports of certain goods from the United States, including steel and aluminum products and auto imports. U.S. automakers like General Motors that produce in Canada are permitted to import certain vehicles into the country without tariffs.

Defence Partnerships

Canada has been working to diversify its trading partnerships by removing internal barriers to allow free trade across all provinces and territories as well as looking at teaming up with countries across the ocean for trade, security, and defence opportunities.

That doesn’t mean Canada wants to sever ties with the United States, however, LeBlanc said.

“They’re our most important economic trading and security partner, and geography means that will always be the case,” he said, adding that being “confrontational” will not solve the issues at hand.

LeBlanc said he has presented the argument to U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and other officials within the administration, that collaboration on mutual concerns such as China disrupting the North American economy and national defence cannot occur while “they’re hammering our economy with these punitive tariffs.”

Canada’s spending on defence will also be key in its discussions with the United States, LeBlanc said.

Carney recently announced his government would increase military spending to meet NATO’s defence spending target of 2 percent of GDP by the end of the current fiscal year in March 2026.

Ottawa not achieving the target has been repeatedly criticized by Trump and he has referenced the issue in his appeals for Canada to merge with the United States. Canada spent 1.37 percent of its GDP on defence last year.

LeBlanc noted that while Canada is interested in partnering with the United States on defence, it’s also seeking to expand other partnerships.

“They’re not the only potential supplier of defense equipment, he said. “The Europeans are making massive investments, well over a trillion Canadian dollars in European defence.”

Carney has said Canada will participate in ReArm Europe, the European Union’s strategy to boost its collective defence capabilities through increased funding and collaboration but is also looking at joining the American Golden Dome initiative.

Trump has said it would cost Canada US$61 billion to partner in the Golden Dome missile defence system.