LeBlanc to meet Trump’s trade czar in Washington on Tuesday

Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc is set to travel to Washington  on Tuesday to meet with his American counterpart as official negotiations between Ottawa and the Trump administration on a critical continental trade pact lag behind talks with Mexico.

LeBlanc’s spokesperson Gabriel Brunet said the minister will be joined by Chief Trade Negotiator Janice Charette for a meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

LeBlanc and Charette will return to Ottawa the same day, while Greer is set to travel to France on Wednesday.

Official trade talks between Ottawa and Washington have yet to begin ahead of a mandatory review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico-Agreement on trade, better known as CUSMA.

The United States and Mexico concluded their first round of bilateral negotiations last week and further discussions are scheduled for later this month. A news release from Greer’s office said “negotiators discussed priority issues related to automotive rules of origin, steel and aluminum, and economic security.”

Canada and Mexico also have been talking separately.

The CUSMA review sets up a three-way choice for each country to make. They can renew the deal for another 16 years, withdraw from it or signal both non-renewal and non-withdrawal — which would trigger an annual review that could keep negotiations going for up to a decade.

Greer has suggested the Trump administration is unlikely to rubber-stamp a renewal. Canada and Mexico are preparing for lengthy negotiations.

CUSMA — which was negotiated during the first Trump administration to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement — has shielded Canada and Mexico from the worst impacts of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs. The current 10 per cent global levy does not apply to goods compliant under the continental trade pact.

Canada and Mexico are still being slammed by Trump’s separate tariffs on sectors like steel, aluminum, automobiles and cabinetry.

Earlier Monday, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre accused Prime Minister Mark Carney of “hiding from the negotiating table for the last six months while the Mexicans have been eating our lunch.” He said he has no expectations that LeBlanc’s meeting with Greer will achieve anything.

“As Mr. Carney likes to say, if you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu,” Poilievre said in Ottawa. “And right now, because Carney’s been hiding from the negotiating table, he’s made all of us on the menu while Mexico and the United States advance their interests at our expense.”

Trump froze trade talks with Canada last year because he was angered by an Ontario-sponsored ad quoting former president Ronald Reagan criticizing tariffs.

Greer said last week that while the Trump administration has significant trade issues with Canada, he has been in regular contact with his Canadian counterparts.

During an event at the Council on Foreign Relations on May 26, Greer said there will be tariffs on Mexico and Canada going forward, even though the countries are part of the trade agreement.

Greer said most nations around the world “begrudgingly” accepted tariffs are part of the Trump administration’s ongoing policies and have been willing to continue negotiations.

“Canada’s approach has been different,” he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 1, 2026.

— With files from Sarah Ritchie in Ottawa

By Kelly Geraldine Malone | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.