Canada Says US Midterms Will Not Change Its Trade Stance

Canada will not change its trade stance after the United States midterm elections, the minister in charge of trade ties with Washington said on Wednesday, Nov. 4.

Dominic LeBlanc told reporters in Ottawa that the result will not shift the focus of the government in talks with the United States. "To a certain extent last night's results are interesting, but they will not have any significant impact in terms of our government's focus and work," he said.

LeBlanc said he plans to speak with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer over the next few days. Those calls keep the talks on their current track.

A new Congress, the same talks

Democrats seized control of both the US Senate and the House of Representatives in the midterms on Nov. 3. During the campaign, Democrats blamed rising costs on the war with Iran and on President Donald Trump's tariffs on goods from major trading partners such as Canada.

The result changes the balance of power in Washington. It does not change who Ottawa negotiates with on tariffs. Trade policy sits with the administration, and the administration stays in place.

For Canada, the message speaks to two audiences. At home, it tells businesses and workers that Ottawa will not reset its approach after one US election night. In Washington, it tells the administration that Canada still wants a deal on the same basis as before the vote.

A deal described as close, with work left

Trump said on Tuesday that the United States was close to making a trade deal with Canada. Prime Minister Mark Carney gave a cooler account. Carney said work remained to be done, and that Washington had dropped some demands.

The two accounts leave a gap. One side says an agreement is near. The other says points remain open, even after some US demands came off the table. LeBlanc did not close that gap on Wednesday. He pointed to the coming calls with Lutnick and Greer as the next step in the talks.

Why it matters

Tariffs shape the cost of goods that cross the Canada and US border. Canada is one of the major trading partners hit by Trump's tariffs, the same tariffs Democrats used against the president's party in the midterm campaign. Rising costs sat at the centre of that campaign, and voters handed both chambers of Congress to the party that blamed the trade policy for part of the strain.

A new Congress may change the debate about tariffs in Washington. LeBlanc argues it will not change the negotiation itself. Ottawa still has to deal with the officials who set and apply tariff policy today, and those officials are Lutnick, Greer and the president himself.

What happens next

The next step is direct contact. LeBlanc plans to speak with Lutnick and Greer over the next few days. Those talks will test whether the deal Trump described as close on Tuesday can move forward on the terms Carney described, with work still left to do.

Until then, Ottawa holds its line. The midterm result will not move Canada's stance, its focus or its work in the trade talks with Washington.