Washington DC - President Donald Trump announced that the US and Canada have reached a "very fair" trade agreement in last-minute trade negotiations, likely staving off his threat to impose 50% tariffs.

"Yeah, we had a very good conversation with the Prime Minister last night," Trump said during a press conference on Wednesday. "And we've come to a deal with Canada."

"As you know, the 50% tariffs across the board were going on against Canada today, and they called yesterday and they gave us the points that we had to have," he continued.

"It's a very fair deal for both, the tariffs will be nonexistent for our farmers – our farmers were paying tremendous tariffs into Canada and those tariffs are gonna be totally eviscerated down to zero."

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Trump's comments came a day after he put a three-day pause on his 50% tariffs policy, which his administration had threatened to impose in retaliation against "discriminatory treatment" by Ottawa.

The tariffs were set to come into effect on Thursday, but Trump said he'd delayed them "based on the fact that Canada and the U.S.A, subject to the finalization of documents, have a DEAL!"

It's unclear what concessions Ottawa has been forced to accept to avoid the levies.

What we do know is that the auto sector has been a sticking point, and any deal is likely to see a cut to Trump's tariffs on Canadian-built cars and trucks. Sources told CBC News that it is likely this levy will be cut from 25% to 15%.

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston also revealed that Carney has asked provinces to put US alcohol products back in government-run liquor stores.

"Whether Nova Scotians or Canadians will actually buy it when it's back on the shelves, that's a whole other discussion," Houston admitted.