New details are emerging about what Canada is prepared to put on the table in its high-stakes trade negotiations with the United States. According to CBC News, whose reporter Katie Simpson relayed the account from the parliamentary bureau, the federal government is in talks about trade concessions in return for some tariff relief. It offers a first snapshot of what has been happening behind closed doors as U.S. President Donald Trump's latest tariff threat looms over the country.
The picture comes with an important caveat about how it was obtained. CBC News said all of the information was provided by two industry sources it is granting anonymity to in order to discuss the sensitive, ongoing negotiations. The broadcaster said it was able to match the account and then add further detail and context about what is unfolding between the two governments.
On the concessions themselves, Canada is said to be willing to make some changes to the alcohol bans it has imposed, moving to meet American demands after it banned American booze from Canadian shelves. According to the sources, Ottawa has indicated to the Americans that it is prepared to give up those booze bans, but only if it gets something in exchange. The report described the alcohol measures as the big headline of the account and a particularly nasty sticking point that neither side likes.
Beyond alcohol, the sources said Canada is also willing to meet some American demands on lifting tariffs on the auto sector, one of the most sensitive areas of cross-border trade. Ottawa is described as open to making some changes on the dairy sector as well, signalling a degree of flexibility on a file that has long been a point of friction with Washington.
There is, however, a firm limit to how far Canada is prepared to go. According to the sources, Ottawa is not willing to touch the dismantling of supply management, the system that underpins its dairy industry, and that remains something the government does not intend to change. At the same time, it is said to be open to meeting some American demands around quota systems and how dairy is treated on Canadian shelves.
In return for those moves, the main thing Canada is pushing for is to stop a new set of tariffs from taking hold. The sources said Ottawa does not want the 50 per cent tariffs on some Canadian goods that are set to come into effect on August 19, and has told the Americans they simply cannot proceed. The message conveyed, according to the account, is that this is seen as a make-or-break moment in the talks.
Canada has warned that if the Americans go ahead with those new tariffs, there will be no political space left in the country to return to any kind of negotiation, describing it as a very difficult pill for Canadians to swallow. Alongside blocking the August 19 measures, the sources said Canada is also seeking lower rates on the sectoral tariffs already applied to steel, aluminum and the lumber industry, the levies known as 232 tariffs.