(Reuters) – In a surprise move, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Monday he had agreed with U.S. President Donald Trump that their two nations should try to wrap up a new economic and security deal within 30 days.
The announcement came only a few hours after Canadian officials said the two sides still had plenty of work ahead before they could seal the agreement.
Carney, who won the April election on the back of a promise to fight Trump’s tariffs, is pushing for what he calls a new economic and security relationship with the United States.
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The two men had earlier met on the sidelines of a G7 summit in Alberta, with Trump reiterating his fondness for tariffs.
“Prime Minister Carney and President Trump … shared updates on key issues raised in negotiations on a new economic and security relationship between Canada and the U.S.,” Carney’s office said in a statement.
“To that end, the leaders agreed to pursue negotiations toward a deal within the coming 30 days.”
A Carney spokesperson confirmed the wording of the statement meant the two sides wanted a deal in the next 30 days.
Carney’s office did not immediately respond when asked whether the statement meant Ottawa had accepted the idea that some U.S. tariffs would stay.
Trump said earlier that a new deal with Canada was possible but stressed had to play a role, a position that the Canadian government strongly opposes.
“I have a tariff concept. Mark has a different concept … we’re going to see if we can get to the bottom of it,” Trump said. “I’m a tariff person.”
Canada, the top supplier of steel and aluminum to the United States, faces tariffs imposed by Trump on both metals as well as on auto exports.
Carney said last week the countries were in intense negotiations over the tariffs and that Canada was preparing reprisals if those negotiations do not succeed.
Optimism that a deal could be concluded quickly had faded over the past 10 days, with Canadian officials saying privately the United States appears to be in no rush.
“We are in the middle of a discussion – we are not at the end of the discussion. Our position is that we should have no tariffs on Canadian exports to the United States,” said Kirsten Hillman, Canada’s ambassador to Washington.
“We will continue to talk until we find a deal that is the best deal we can achieve for Canada,” she told reporters after Carney met Trump.
Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Rod Nickel and Stephen Coates
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