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Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says Canada urgently needs to land a trade deal with the United States but it should not have set a deadline for negotiations because U.S. President Donald Trump “will try to take advantage” of the time crunch.
“The challenge with a unilateral, self-imposed deadline is that it tells the counterparty that they have you on a clock — a clock that only applies to you,” Poilievre said during an interview with CBC’s The House that airs Saturday.
“I personally think it would have been better not to show that up front to the Americans because we know that President Trump will try to take advantage of it,” he told host Catherine Cullen in his first national English interview with CBC News since becoming party leader.
Trump and Prime Minister Mark Carney had been locked in negotiations to come up with a trade resolution by July 21. However, that deadline shifted after Trump threatened a 35 per cent tariff on all Canadian goods, which he said would go into effect Aug. 1.
“Throughout the current trade negotiations with the United States, the Canadian government has steadfastly defended our workers and businesses. We will continue to do so as we work toward the revised deadline,” Carney said in a social media post on Thursday.
A Trump administration official told CBC News on Friday the 35 per cent tariff will not apply to goods compliant with the Canada-U.S. Mexico Agreement (CUSMA). However, the official cautioned no final decisions have been made by Trump.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, speaking in an exclusive interview with CBC Radio’s The House host Catherine Cullen, says ‘every passing day brings uncertainty and paralysis’ without a trade deal between Canada and the U.S.
Though he would have avoided setting a deadline, Poilievre said Canada should get a deal done soon “and that way we don’t have to worry about tariffs that hurt both of our countries.”
He said there’s an urgency because “every passing day brings uncertainty and paralysis.”
On Friday afternoon, Conservative MP Adam Chambers posted a letter on social media calling on the Liberal government to recall the standing committee on international trade in the wake of Trump’s latest tariff threat.
After another unjustified tariff attack on Canadians, workers and industries, Conservatives are offering to recall the Trade Committee to help secure the best deal for Canada pic.twitter.com/O96Q7FtqQJ
Poilievre said it’s important that Carney demonstrates a plan to handle Trump, and recalling the committee would allow Canadians to see how the prime minister intends to “put an end to the tariff chaos.”
The Conservative leader also says the committee would allow his party to put pressure on the Liberals to reverse policies that he says made Canada reliant on the U.S., such as the Impact Assessment Act and the industrial carbon tax.
Poilievre criticizes Carney for not making headway
Two weeks ago, Canada-U.S. trade talks came to a sudden halt when Trump announced he was walking away from the table over the digital services tax. He came back after Carney scrapped the tax targeting large technology firms.
Poilievre said he thinks the tax was a bad idea and he “would have used it as a bargaining chip to get concessions” from the Americans — something he argued Carney has failed to achieve.
“He hasn’t made any headway, and I don’t blame him entirely for that. Obviously, he’s dealing with unfair treatment by the Americans, but we want to see some wins for Canada, and we have suggestions on how to get those wins.”
That said, Poilievre acknowledged Canada-U.S. trade talks are happening behind closed doors and it’s unknown whether Carney got something in exchange for dropping the digital services tax.
In response to a reporter’s question about trade talks with Canada, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Prime Minister Mark Carney ‘caved’ to U.S. President Donald Trump after the latter said on Friday he was ending discussions because of the digital services tax. The Canadian government announced late Sunday evening it would rescind the tax.
The Conservative leader said his party is willing to help Carney and he’s talked to several U.S. lawmakers, including Republican Rep. Pete Sessions and other American politicians who were in Alberta for the Calgary Stampede.
“If the prime minister wants us to help engage in the diplomatic process, we’re happy to do it. One great way to do that is to pull back the international trade committee and work together on getting the message out,” Poilievre said.
In his letter, Trump again cited fentanyl “pouring” into the U.S. from Canada as his reason for the tariffs — even though data continues to show that minimal amounts of the drug are crossing the Canada-U.S. border compared to its southern border.
Trump also took yet another shot at Canada’s supply management system and argued it unfairly hurts American dairy farmers. Liberal ministers have said they will never dismantle supply management.
When asked whether he thinks Canada should be willing to allow a little more room for American dairy farmers, Poilievre said he would ask the Americans if they’re willing to get rid of “billions of dollars of farm subsidies” in return.
“I do find it passing strange that the U.S. government would say that our farmers are somehow getting an unfair advantage … I don’t think we should be making these proactive, unilateral concessions because that’s not how you do a negotiation,” Poilievre said.