Trump hasn't threatened ripping up North American trade deal in private talks, Carney says

Prime Minister Mark Carney says U.S. President Donald Trump hasn't given him any indication that he's willing to walk away from the North American free trade deal that was struck during his first term at the White House.

Carney met privately with Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum in Washington during the FIFA World Cup draw earlier this month.

Much of that conversation laid out the broad strokes for coming discussions around the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), which is up for review in 2026.

"What we talked about, the two presidents and myself, we talked about the process for reviewing, renegotiating, CUSMA. We talked about potential timelines, although we didn't settle on specific timelines for that," Carney said in a year-end interview with CBC's Rosemary Barton Live airing Sunday.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer recently floated the possibility of the U.S. aiming to get separate deals with Canada and Mexico — or possibly backing out entirely.

"Could it be exited? Yeah, it could be exited. Could it be revised? Yes. Could it be renegotiated? Yes," Greer said. "All of those things are on the table."

In a report tabled in the U.S. Congress on Wednesday, Greer wrote that he "will keep the president's options open, negotiating firmly to resolve the issues identified, but only recommending renewal if resolution can be achieved."

Trump threatened to pull out of CUSMA's predecessor, NAFTA, during negotiations in his first presidential term, and has made similar comments about CUSMA in front of the cameras at the White House.

But Carney said that the president "did not say any of those things" in their private discussions.

"My discussions with the president, President Trump — as have been President Sheinbaum's discussion with President Trump — has been there'll be review and adjustment to CUSMA … not that there will be any leaving it entirely," he told host Rosemary Barton.

Despite the trade deal, the U.S. is still hitting Canadian exports of steel and aluminum with tariffs of 50 per cent, lumber with tariffs of 10 per cent and some automotive exports and other products such as kitchen cabinets with tariffs of 25 cent.

Carney won April's federal election after presenting himself during the campaign as the best person to handle the U.S. president.

After the election, the prime minister has taken a number of steps to appease the U.S. administration — including walking back a digital services tax and removing a swathe of retaliatory tariffs on American goods.

Despite those efforts, a deal to remove at least some of the U.S. sectoral tariffs has not materialized.