The government of Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney has offered the Trump administration a package of trade proposals in hopes of preventing the implementation of 50% tariffs on a range of imports into the U.S., due to take effect August 19, according to sources quoted by The New York Times.
Two people familiar with Canada’s stance in the talks with Washington say Canada is offering, among other concessions, to repeal a tariff on U.S.-made autos introduced in retaliation for a similar U.S. measure.
Speaking to reporters in Quebec on August 6, Prime Minister Carney ruled out doing deals just on specific products. “We’re not interested in a very targeted deal,” he said. “We’re interested in a more comprehensive deal, more global deal.”
Read More: Carney Accuses U.S. of Breaking USMCA with New Canada Tariffs
Meetings between the two countries — who are each major trading partners with the other — resumed last week in Washington, after months of hostile silence.
Canada has been vocal and active in pushing back against punitive tariffs, as well as Trump's repeated claimes he intends to make the country the "51st State." In an interview with the Council on Foreign Relations in May 2026, the U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Canada was the only country apart from China that had retaliated against the U.S. over tariffs.
President Donald Trump in July signed an executive order which, if it comes into effect as planned on August 19, will cover a wide range of Canadian exports, including alcohol. It will not affect oil, natural gas, the fertilizer potash and other natural resources used by American industry.
