US doesn’t dictate terms of trade talks: Carney

TORONTO: The United States does not get to dictate the terms of upcoming trade talks, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday (Apr 22), following reports Washington wants an “entry fee” before agreeing to open negotiations.

The United States and Canada are set to hold talks on revising a North American free trade agreement, a pact US President Donald Trump signed and praised during his first term but now dismisses as “irrelevant.” 

Quoting multiple Canadian sources, Canada’s public broadcaster CBC reported Wednesday that Trump’s team wants an “entry fee,” or concessions, from Canada before starting talks on revising the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

Prominent Canadian politician and former Quebec premier Jean Charest, now a member of Carney’s advisory council on US trade, told French public broadcaster Radio-Canada that Trump is demanding “concessions before we sit down at the table.”

Asked about those reports in Ottawa, and whether Canada will give concessions in order to persuade the US to talk, Carney said “no.”

“It’s not a case of the United States dictates the terms,” he said. 

“It’s not a case of (one country) demanding and the other begging,” he added in French. “It’s a negotiation.”

The prime minister said Canada recognized the United States has “trade irritants” it wants addressed. 

“We have some on our side as well,” he told reporters, saying “the time will come to really roll up our sleeves.”