Canada eyes US tariff relief after Trump's midterm election setback

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says Ottawa hopes to ease tariff tensions with Washington while pursuing efforts to double non-US trade over the next decade

By Nayla Razzouk

 

Canada will seek to ease trade frictions with the US after tariff-weary voters rebuked Donald Trump in midterm elections, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said. 

Canada’s industries have been hit hard by the US president’s trade wars, Anand said on Bloomberg Television. That has prompted Canada to strike back and find alternative trade partners, she said. But America’s changing political mood has created an opening for detente. 

 

“We’re talking about just a week or so out of these elections, and Canada very much hopes that we will have progress on the trade front,” she said, citing tariffs on lumber, steel, aluminum and automobiles. “These sectors are being hit very hard in Canada with workers losing their jobs.” 

Anand was in Paris to attend a meeting of the Group of Seven foreign ministers, including US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

 

 

Canada has signed more than 20 security, economic and defense agreements over the past year, she said, making it the only G7 nation to have a free trade agreement with each member of the group of advanced economies. 

 

“This is the work that we are doing to double non-US trade over the next 10 years,” she said.

 

Anand said she also recently visited the United Arab Emirates, which is hosting Russian and Ukraine officials this week to discuss Moscow’s ongoing war. The foreign minister said the talks will focus on future security guarantees for Kyiv, including for energy infrastructure and agriculture products leaving Ukrainian ports. 

 

She said Canada plans to sign a 100-year agreement with Ukraine this year focused on drone production and troop training.

 

Canada and the European Union are also tightening cooperation across several strategic areas including critical minerals, energy, artificial intelligence, technology and cloud computing, she said.