U.S. officials discussed hitting Canada with trade sanctions over Quebec's language law

U.S government officials have discussed behind closed doors the possibility of imposing trade sanctions on Canada over Quebec's controversial Bill 96 language law, CBC News has learned.

Documents obtained by CBC News under the U.S. freedom of information law also reveal that American government officials are being told that the implementation of Bill 96 could result in fewer American products being shipped to Canada — not just to Quebec.

According to the documents, officials from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) have debated whether the legislation — which includes provisions that could affect things like commercial signs, trademarks and labels on products — contravenes trade agreements between Canada and the United States.

U.S. officials have discussed in private whether the restrictions in Bill 96 constitute a technical barrier to trade, a breach of trade-related intellectual property rights or a violation of Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, and whether those breaches would justify trade sanctions.

The documents, which cover the period of November 2022 to late January 2024, don't reveal whether USTR officials have reached a conclusion on trade sanctions.

Asked for an update, USTR deputy press secretary Catherine White pointed to the readout of a meeting between Canadian and American trade officials in January, which mentions U.S. government concerns about Bill 96.

Jean-Pierre Godbout, spokesperson for Global Affairs, said the Canadian government is "closely following developments."

"The Government of Canada is aware of the concerns expressed by various stakeholders regarding Quebec's amendments to the Charter of the French Language as modernized under Bill 96 and accompanying regulations," Godbout wrote in an e-mailed response. "We have shared these concerns with the Government of Quebec and continue to closely follow developments."

Thomas Verville, spokesperson for provincial French Language Minister Jean-François Roberge, gave little indication of what the Quebec government thinks of the USTR's internal discussions of trade sanctions.

"We are still at the stage of enacting the regulation. It will soon be final," he wrote. "We held a consultation period to gather all the comments."

Bill 96, which tightens up Quebec's language laws, was given final assent on June 1, 2022 and draft regulations to implement the legislation were made public on Jan. 10, 2024. The final regulations to implement Bill 96 are expected to be made public in coming weeks.

A number of provisions of Bill 96, including those on trademarks, are set to go into effect in June 2025.

Bill 96 was among the subjects raised by American officials during a Jan. 24 meeting between USTR senior adviser Cara Morrow and her Canadian counterpart Rob Stewart, deputy minister for international trade.

In its readout from the meeting, the USTR's office said Morrow "shared concerns about trademark provisions of Quebec's Bill 96 and their potential implications for U.S businesses, including small and medium-sized enterprises."