U.S. President Donald Trump greets Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney as he arrives at the West Wing of the White House on May 6, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Alex Wong | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Less than two hours before massive U.S. tariffs on certain Canadian goods were set to switch on, President Donald Trump announced a tentative deal to stave off the new duties.
The postponement could be just a brief respite for businesses who warn that the planned 50% tariffs on imports of wine, hockey sticks and a range of other Canadian products are already taking a toll.
The new import taxes on about $20 billion worth of goods were unveiled last month in response to what the Trump administration described as Canadian trade discrimination against key U.S. industries.
The tariffs were set to take effect Wednesday at 12:01 a.m. ET. But at 10:15 p.m. Tuesday, Trump announced on Truth Social that he would pause the tariffs for three days, “based on the fact that Canada and the U.S.A., subject to the finalization of documents, have a DEAL!”
Trump’s statement on the to-be-finalized deal included few details. But it hinted that an agreement with Canada could include restarting Keystone XL, the planned oil pipeline from Alberta to Nebraska that was scrapped in 2021 by then-President Joe Biden.
“The great Keystone XL Pipeline, long ago killed by Sleepy Joe Biden, may be awoken from the grave!” Trump wrote in the post.
In a follow-up post, Trump shared an AI-generated image depicting him pulling a pipeline labeled “KEYSTONE” out of the ground.
At the White House on Wednesday afternoon, Trump signaled that the deal might also include the U.S. lowering tariffs on steel and aluminum.
“We may bring some of the tariffs down to a level where other countries are,” Trump said when asked about the duties on Canadian metals, “because Canada was paying a higher tariff.”
Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc declined to confirm that a reduction in U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs was on the table.
“As negotiations are still ongoing and we are working collectively with the U.S. administration towards a finalized agreement, we will not provide further comments,” LeBlanc told CNBC in a text Wednesday.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, in a statement released Tuesday night, was initially more circumspect than Trump.
“Substantial progress has been made, although there is important work still to be done,” Carney’s statement said.
In an X post midday Wednesday, however, Carney boasted that Canada “entered these discussions with the best overall trade terms.”
“We are now moving towards an agreement that reinforces that Canadian advantage, including by securing the best terms in each of Canada’s most important strategic sectors and providing greater certainty about our future trading relationship,” the prime minister wrote.
Asked Wednesday morning about the coming deal, Trump claimed that Canada made multiple concessions, including lowering its retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods.
“We’ve come to a deal with Canada” after a “very good conversation” with Carney, Trump told reporters while touring construction projects on the White House grounds.
“They called yesterday and they gave us the points that we had to have,” Trump said, calling it a “very fair deal for both.”
Trump did not mention Keystone XL. But he said Canadian tariffs “will be non-existent for our farmers,” without specifying which duties he was referring to. Trump’s 50% tariff proposal was partly based on Canada’s alleged discrimination against the U.S. dairy industry.
Asked if the U.S. would lower its tariffs on Canadian autos as part of the deal — a top goal for Ottawa’s trade negotiators — Trump said, “We’re doing certain things.”
“We’ve got to give something,” he added. “They were paying a high number, we’re reducing it a little bit, it’s good for everybody.”
“Basically, we have no tariffs going into Canada anymore. Canada was charging us tremendous tariffs. We no longer have any tariffs,” he said.
The president noted, however, that the deal is “subject to the finalization of documents.”
The comments came after a presidential proclamation released Tuesday night signaled that Canada would lower or remove its trade barriers on the U.S. as part of an agreement.
“According to senior executive branch officials, Canada has expressed a commitment to remove the discriminations or unreasonable and unequal impositions” that spurred the 50% tariff threat, according to the proclamation.
The same evening, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer wrote in an X post that the deal “will include comprehensive market access for all American goods, economic security commitments, digital trade alignment, and many important provisions that will continue to protect our market and American workers, along with our Canadian partners.”
After Greer met again with LeBlanc in Washington on Wednesday morning, he said the Trump administration feels “confident that we’ve reached an agreement” to protect American workers and “strengthen the North American economy.”
“We certainly, I think, have eliminated some of the irritants that we’ve had in the past year,” Greer said.
— CNBC’s Ashlee Trujillo contributed to this report.