U.S. does not want to 'terminate' Canada-U.S-Mexico Agreement, says ambassador to Canada

OTTAWA — U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra says he does not believe the United States wants to “terminate” its trilateral trade agreement with Canada and Mexico.

Hoekstra, speaking to National Post in a wide-ranging interview on Monday, said Canadians ought to be prepared for several possibilities, as the three countries ready themselves for their first joint review of the agreement, which was signed during U.S. President Donald Trump’s first term in office.

“Canadians should be prepared for what they had signed up for six years ago, so should Americans,” the ambassador said from the U.S. embassy.

The sweeping trade deal, known in Canada as the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement, is scheduled to undergo its first review next year, with parties already having launched consultations.

Prime Minister Mark Carney met last week with Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on the sidelines of a FIFA World Cup event in Washington, where all three spoke for 45 minutes and “ agreed to keep working together on” the agreement, according to a statement from Audrey Champoux, a spokeswoman for Carney. 

The agreement, which came into force in 2020, has a clause stating the deal is set to expire in 2036, with the review purposefully scheduled ahead of time. As part of the review, countries must state whether they wish to extend it for another 16-year term and present formal recommendations.

If one member decides against extending the agreement, the countries would be subject to more frequent joint reviews, with the possibility of extending it for another term available throughout any future process. Another option under the deal is that a country could provide notice to withdraw from it completely.

Jamieson Greer, who serves as U.S. Trade Representative, recently told POLITICO that withdrawal remains a possible scenario.

Speaking from Ottawa, Hoekstra says the joint review “covers the full gamut of potential outcomes,” from a continuation of the deal, including with “modifications,” as well as “the possibility to terminate the agreement.”

“These things are all possibilities under the framework of the agreement. It doesn’t say anything about, we’re going to do it with a bias towards any one of these outcomes.”

“It’s just that all of these outcomes are possibilities. Do I think termination, that the United States wants to terminate — no.”

The ambassador acknowledged that there were three sides around the negotiating table and said the U.S. views the agreement as having been a “very positive relationship benefiting both countries.”

He said much has changed from when the agreement replacing the former North American Free Trade Agreement was signed six years ago, such as the demand for critical minerals as well as energy needed to power AI data centres, as well as threats from China.

“Our intent is building strong, reliable relationships with our friends and allies, of which Canada is a key part,” Hoekstra said.

He also acknowledged the fact that the idea of the U.S. striking separate bilateral deals with Canada and Mexico has also been discussed.

“Is that post-CUSMA?” the ambassador said, adding how the review reflects the fact “we live in a very, very dynamic world.”

“Canada and the United States will decide exactly what that relationship will look like moving forward from here and it will be different, OK.”

Business leaders and Carney himself point to the current trade agreement as being key to Canada seeing most of its goods exempt from U.S. tariffs, with the prime minister arguing that Canada has the best arrangement compared to any other country that trades with the U.S.

Talks about striking a deal with Trump that would see the president outright remove or lessen tariffs on key Canadian sectors, such as steel and aluminum, have not restarted since Trump announced in late October that negotiations were off, blaming anti-tariff ads from Ontario Premier Doug Ford.

Hoekstra said he understands that both sides were close to securing “some kind of a framework” for a deal that would have covered steel and aluminum as well as oil and uranium by the week before American Thanksgiving in late November.

Trump said, “we’ll see” when asked by reporters on Sunday about restarting talks with Canada.

His ambassador expressed confidence on Monday that negotiations would resume, but said “it’s a matter of time” for when both parties feel ready to get back to it.

“But the bottom line is, we will restart negotiations.”

National Post, with a file from The Canadian Press

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