The Canadian minister claims that Trump and Carney are directly corresponding over tariffs

Industry Minister Melanie Joly said Thursday that Ottawa is attempting to get Washington to remove tariffs by communicating directly with U.S. President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.

“We are in a trade war and it’s normal that at the same time that the trade war is taking place, there are also diplomatic negotiations, and that therefore, Prime Minister Carney and President Trump talk to each other,” she stated to reporters.

Earlier, the U.S. envoy to Canada was quoted by the Globe and Mail newspaper as stating that the two leaders were covertly having direct conversations to develop a framework for a trade and security agreement.

Trump raised import duties on steel and aluminum this week, raising them from 25% to 50%. Canada, the biggest supplier of the metals to the United States, could suffer as a result of the action.

Carney stated on Wednesday that Canada was “preparing reprisals if those negotiations do not succeed” and that the nations were engaged in heated talks about the tariffs.

U.S. ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra told the Globe that the two sides were “laying out the perimeters” of an agreement that might include increasing the amount of U.S. content in automobiles, facilitating U.S. access to vital Canadian minerals, and guaranteeing Canada’s increased involvement in the Arctic.

According to the article, he stated that the discussions also cover halting the smuggling of fentanyl and increasing defense spending, energy, border security, steel, and aluminum.

Carney’s staff opted not to respond.

“Both the President and the Prime Minister, or members of their teams, have publicly acknowledged that there are ongoing conversations,” a U.S. embassy official in Ottawa wrote in an email.

The largest private sector union in the nation, Unifor, urged Carney to strike back right away on Wednesday.