The Canadian government is pursuing broad exemptions from the sector-specific tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, rather than attempting to negotiate agreements that protect only certain parts of the economy.

Prime Minister Mark Carney stated that his government is seeking a comprehensive trade agreement with the United States and has no interest in extremely targeted deals that exclude other industries.

"This is a difficult negotiation. We can change the adjectives, you could say it's terrible, but what I mean is, it's about Canadian jobs and the future of Canadian businesses," Carney told reporters after visiting an aluminum processing plant in Quebec.

President Trump, speaking in Las Vegas on Wednesday, claimed that the United States has been "taken advantage of" for years by tariffs from countries including Japan, Germany, and Canada.

"Canada is very tough. They are, very tough," Trump said. "I love the people there, but their leadership is tough, very tough."

The remarks from both leaders come as the August 19 deadline set by the president approaches. Trump has threatened to impose an additional 50% new tariff on a range of Canadian goods, from alcoholic beverages to cement and hockey sticks, citing what the White House calls discriminatory treatment of American products by Canada. Canada has described this proposed tariff as the latest in a series of unilateral U.S. trade actions, which it says began with tariffs that violate the existing trade agreement between Canada, the United States, and Mexico.

Canada's Minister of Canadian-American Relations, Dominic LeBlanc, and the chief U.S. trade negotiator appointed by Carney earlier this year, Janice Charette, are in Washington this week for talks with their American counterparts.

"The Americans want a lot from Canada," Carney said. "They say they don't want it, but they actually do. That includes energy, potash, critical minerals, and aluminum. For us, these are all interconnected. We are a country, and we care about all of these industries."