Washington DC - The US and Canada signaled Wednesday that they were close to finalizing a comprehensive trade deal, after President Donald Trump paused implementing a new round of crippling tariffs.
Carney on Wednesday applauded his Canada-US trade minister, Dominic LeBlanc, and Trump's top negotiator Jamieson Greer, for "significant progress" in the negotiations.
LeBlanc, in a separate social media post, said he met again with Greer in Washington on Wednesday, and the sides were "working collaboratively towards a finalized agreement."
Emerging from the meeting, Greer – who is the US trade representative – expressed confidence that both sides have a pact that will "strengthen the North American economy."
"While we certainly, I think, have eliminated some of the irritants that we've had over the past year, we also are taking a strong foot forward on the next steps," he said, according to CNBC.
Trump planned to set tariffs at 50% on Wednesday, as he has alleged "discriminatory treatment" by Canada against US alcohol, automobile and dairy products.
But the president announced late Tuesday that he would delay their rollout by three days as both sides worked to finalize a deal.
Carney said the deal secures "the best terms in each of Canada's most important strategic sectors and [provides] greater certainty about our future trading relationship."
Trump's tariffs on auto, steel, aluminum, and forest products have hurt Canada's economy, which has made securing relief from those duties a top priority for Ottawa through weeks of negotiations.