US President Donald Trump has said the United States and Canada have reached what he described as a “very fair” trade agreement, amid ongoing negotiations over tariffs and bilateral trade relations.
Trump made the disclosure on Wednesday, saying the agreement would mean no tariffs on exports by US farmers and businesses to Canada.
“We have no tariffs going into Canada,” Trump told reporters, adding that “tariffs will be non-existent for farmers.”
The announcement follows Trump’s decision on Tuesday to suspend for three days a proposed 50 percent tariff on Canadian imports that was scheduled to take effect on Wednesday.
Trump said the temporary pause followed what he described as a “good conversation” with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said he had paused the tariffs because the US and Canada had reached a deal, subject to the finalisation of the necessary documents.
“I have paused the 50% Tariffs against Canada that were scheduled to kick in tomorrow morning for a three-day period, based on the fact that Canada and the U.S.A., subject to the finalization of documents, have a DEAL!” Trump said.
Details of deal yet to be released
The announcement comes after several rounds of negotiations between Washington and Ottawa over trade relations and the proposed tariffs.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Tuesday that “substantial progress has been made,” but acknowledged that important issues remained unresolved.
Neither the US nor Canadian governments has released the full details of the reported agreement.
The proposed tariffs would have affected about $20 billion worth of Canadian imports into the United States and would have applied to goods regardless of whether they qualified for preferential treatment under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
The automotive sector has reportedly remained one of the major sticking points in the negotiations, according to Reuters, which cited two unnamed industry sources.
The latest development could ease tensions between the two North American trading partners and provide greater certainty for businesses on both sides of the border, although the final terms of the agreement are still expected to be formally concluded and announced.
