Canada’s Carney hails ‘good conversation’ on trade with Trump

Trump last week said he expected a new trade agreement with Canada to be reached “pretty soon”, but offered no details.

On Sunday, Trump confirmed the latest talks with Carney, saying officials had “the concept of a very good deal with Canada”.

“We have the concept of a deal that’s going to be great for our farmers, great for our country, and it’ll be fine for Canada, too,” he told reporters ahead of a midterms campaign event in Iowa.

Trump said the trade deal would include the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, long opposed by environmental activists and shelved under his predecessor Joe Biden.

The US president’s chaotic trade policies have seen Canada deepen its engagement with other allies.

On Friday, the European Union and Canada announced an alliance that would see Ottawa become the bloc’s first “associate member”, although there was some disagreement within the EU over the use of that term.