Dominic LeBlanc

OTTAWA — It’s futile to predict how long trade talks with President Trump’s White House might last, Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc told the House of Commons trade committee Thursday. He told a Senate foreign affairs committee that Canada is still in discussions on dropping the sector-specific tariffs putting pressure on Canadian industries and he does not see “a dead end in those conversations.” …The minister told senators he is hoping to make progress on one-off, sector-specific tariff deals before the official review of North America’s trilateral trade pact launches next year. He added that “nobody has yet suggested” Ottawa should fold the sector-specific talks into the broader review. …The president escalated his trade war again this week, through an executive order adding a 10% tariff on softwood lumber and 25% tariff on wooden furniture.

Related coverage:

By Sean Boynton in Global News: Trade war ‘resolvable’ but U.S. ties have ‘fundamentally’ changed

By Ashley Burke in CBC News: Carney to return to Washington as Trump’s tariffs hit sectors hard