Canada Made Trade Concessions. Trump’s Trade Team Says It’s Still Not Enough.

Prime Minister Mark Carney is facing growing criticism at home over stalled U.S.-Canada trade talks, and fresh comments from the Trump administration suggest his concessions have done little to move Washington.

There hasn’t been “a lot” of movement in bilateral negotiations with Canada, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told the Aspen Security Forum on Wednesday, despite Carney’s government caving on its Digital Services Tax to keep talks going.

“They had an Online Streaming Act where they wanted to force American companies to fund Canadian companies that they rolled back,” Greer said. “I’m glad they did that, but they don't really get credit for doing something bad and then undoing it.”

It’s been two weeks since the U.S. was the lone party to formally refuse to renew the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. The treaty is currently set to expire in a decade.

Renewal would have kicked its expiration to 2042, giving businesses more certainty to plan North American investment. While a consensus on renewal can be given at any time, the Trump administration's refusal initiates annual reviews to resolve issues.

Negotiations with Mexico are “going well” and have been “quite pragmatic,” said Greer, who heads to Mexico City next week for the third round of bilateral USMCA negotiations.

Formal bilateral negotiations on the trade deal have not started between the U.S. and Canada.

Carney has been getting more heat from opposition Conservatives in recent days over concessions made to the U.S. to resolve the delayed opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge connecting Windsor, Ontario and Detroit.

Canada’s Ambassador to the U.S. Mark Wiseman reportedly played a key role in that negotiation, which is separate to bilateral trade talks about the USMCA and Section 232 tariffs.

While Greer said he’s in contact with his Canadian counterparts weekly, he dispelled any notion that the frequency of that communication insinuates meaningful progress.

“I've given lots of proposals to the Canadians on things that could be done immediately to put us in a better position,” he said before suggesting any breakthrough in talks hinges on Carney and President Donald Trump first coming to an “understanding.”

Carney said the same last month, telling reporters that any turning point in trade talks will be the result of high-level discussions directly with Trump.

“If the president [and] Prime Minister Carney have an understanding, I'm sure we can put together something that makes sense to get us over the hump,” Greer said, adding Trump is “quite focused” on bringing the trade deficit down with Canada — and repatriating supply chains.

The U.S. trade deficit with Canada dropped 25 percent between 2024 to 2025, according to USTR data. The Trump administration’s fixation on trade deficit numbers has been an ongoing challenge in bilateral trade talks.

Canada’s chief trade negotiator to the United States has said the Trump administration’s fixation on the trade deficit is one of the primary “challenges” in their negotiations.

“We keep fighting this conversation around trade deficit, trade deficit,” Janice Charette told the Canada Automotive Summit in June.