US ambassador says ‘win-win’ trade pact with Canada nearing completion

The US ambassador to Canada, Pete Hoekstra, expressed optimism about ongoing trade negotiations between the two nations, suggesting that President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney could soon reach a fair and mutually beneficial deal.

Speaking at an Independence Day event in Ottawa, Hoekstra noted that both leaders have dedicated negotiators working on the deal. He envisioned a scenario where each leader could proudly tell their citizens, “I secured a fantastic deal for my Canada.” Hoekstra further speculated that at that moment, they would have a president who could say, ‘I got a great deal for the USA.’

Based on his argument, this was possibly a ” win-win situation.”

Hoekstra expresses optimism for an end to the US-Canada trade negotiation

The US, Canada, and Mexico already have a trade agreement that Trump signed in his first term.  The president, however, has avoided it, setting tariffs of up to 50% on imported steel and aluminum and duties on cars and trucks. Interestingly, Canada plays an important role in exporting all of those goods. 

On the other hand, the Canadian government imposed counter-tariffs on tens of billions of dollars worth of American-made goods. This included automobiles and other consumer goods. 

Notably, Carney, Canada’s prime minister since March, chose not to respond when Trump raised the tariffs on steel and aluminum weeks ago.

Meanwhile, trade talks restarted between the United States and Canada immediately after Ottawa removed a digital services tax, which the US objected to, according to White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett. Hassett stated that when he was asked about the talks starting up again. 

This came after Mark Carney telephoned US President Donald Trump to inform him that the tax was being canceled, the White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters, describing it as a big win for US tech firms.

Leavitt described this as straightforward, referring to Prime Minister Carney giving in to President Trump and the US. She praised Trump’s tough negotiating approach for the change.

The secretary further stated that President Trump understands that every country needs to have strong trade ties with the US. Based on Leavitt’s argument, Canada made a mistake by promising to put in place a tax that would have harmed their tech companies.

The two leaders agreed on a July 21 deadline for reaching an agreement.

Hoekstra, who used to be a member of the US House of Representatives from Michigan, which relies heavily on trade with Canada, asserted that they will get through this. He then concluded that when this is all over, they will be stronger and better than they were at the start. 

Canada drops its digital services tax on the US, resulting in a trade deal with the nation 

Canada backed off a plan to start imposing a new digital services tax aimed at US technology giants just hours before it came into effect in hopes of helping move forward the halted trade talks with the US.

This was after Trump asked Canada to drop the tax at a G7 meeting in Canada earlier in June. According to Hassett, this is something that they had studied, and now they had agreed to it. Therefore, Hassett anticipated that they could get back to the negotiations.

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick commented on the situation in a post on X. Lutnick expressed gratitude to Canada for removing its Digital Services Tax. According to him, it was intended to stifle American innovation and would have been a deal breaker for any trade deal with America.

As a result of this change, stocks reached new highs on Wall Street as market sentiment lifted on hopes that the US would make progress on its trade negotiations with major trading partners, including Canada.