Washington and Ottawa accelerate talks on scrapping steel and car tariffs

Intensification of dialogue between leaders

There was a noticeable intensification of trade discussions between the United States and Canada during the past week. A key event was the phone call held on 21 October between US President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.

Working-level contacts

According to two sources familiar with the details of the negotiation process, following the top-level meeting, US Trade Secretary Howard Lutnick and his Canadian counterpart Dominic LeBlanc began communicating regularly. It is worth noting that it was Howard Lutnick who contributed to the collapse of the previous round of negotiations this summer.

The main subject of their discussions remains the tariffs imposed by the Donald Trump administration on imports of cars and steel. This issue has been a stumbling block for Canada from the very beginning.

Status of negotiations and forecasts

A senior Canadian government official confirmed that as of Tuesday, the format of the discussions remained informal. Despite this, the acceleration of the process triggered a wave of publications in the media in both the US and Canada.

The White House also expresses confidence in a near-term compromise. Speaking at a rally in Michigan on 25 October, Donald Trump predicted that the trade conflict in North America would be "resolved very soon".