By Greg Savoy
WASHINGTON, Aug 21 (Reuters) – Top trade negotiators from Canada and the U.S. met for the third day running in Washington on Friday to try to finalize a trade deal before threatened new American tariffs come into effect on Saturday.
A deal could mark a detente in what has been 18 months of tense relations that started when President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on key imports from Canada, prompting Ottawa to retaliate with a suite of countermeasures.
Trump says he will impose a new 50% tariff on about $20 billion worth of Canadian goods at 12:01 a.m. EDT (0401 GMT) on Saturday if a deal is not reached.
Canada’s minister responsible for trade with the U.S., Dominic LeBlanc, did not speak to reporters as he arrived for the talks.
LeBlanc met Greer for more than three hours on Thursday and said the two sides were “very close” to a deal, but added that more work was necessary.
Even if a deal is reached, Prime Minister Mark Carney could find it hard to sell it to Canadians and the influential premiers of the 10 provinces.
A Leger opinion poll showed on Wednesday that 56% of Canadians want Carney to make no further concessions.
Sources say an agreement is expected to cut the top-line tariff on Canadian-built vehicles to 15% from 25% and halve tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum to 25%. Ontario, a major steel and aluminum producer, wants the tariffs scrapped.
Carney is calling on major provinces to rescind their ban on sales of U.S. alcohol, which is a major irritant for Washington.
Wab Kinew, the premier of Manitoba, on Thursday said Trump was “very weak” and Canada should take advantage.
“I think we’ve got the upper hand – they’re back on their heels right now. They’re coming to us for a deal, and so I think we should fight,” he told reporters.
Canada, though, is a tenth the size of the United States and sends around 70% of all exports south of the border, which makes it uniquely vulnerable to punitive U.S. trade actions.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday mocked Carney, saying he “comes in and puffs his chest out and says, ‘I’m going to, like, out-tough Donald Trump’.”
In a recording obtained by the Canadian Press, Vance can then be heard saying “It’s hilarious because Carney presents this as some victory for Canada when fundamentally, like, they climb down on a lot of issues.”
Vance was speaking at a fundraiser in Southampton, New York.
(Writing by David Ljunggren; Editing by Katharine Jackson, Philippa Fletcher and Sanjeev Miglani)
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