By Paul Vieira
OTTAWA--Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is considering a trip to Washington early next month, which may provide an opportunity to restart talks with the White House about relief from certain hefty tariffs.
A Carney spokeswoman said the prime minister could attend the 2026 World Cup draw at the Kennedy Center in Washington on Dec. 5, as the U.S., Mexico and Canada are co-hosts of next year's tournament. The spokeswoman said no final decision has been made, and had no information about possible meetings with either U.S. or Mexican officials should Carney attend.
Carney faces political pressure about his inability to deliver a trade deal with the U.S. which would help mitigate the impact from President Trump's shift in trade policy. Trump ended talks last month on a trade deal between Ottawa and Washington, citing an advertising campaign, paid for by the province of Ontario, that he said misrepresented comments by former President Ronald Reagan regarding tariffs. Carney led the Liberal Party to a fourth-straight electoral win last April, on the promise of taking a hard-nosed approach in trade negotiations with Washington and delivering relief for the Canadian economy.
Carney told reporters in Johannesburg over the weekend, at the sidelines of the Group of 20 leaders' summit, that Canadian officials would re-engage with their U.S. counterparts on trade talks at the appropriate time. He said he's been busy, and the President "has got other things to do." Carney added that he would speak to Trump again "when it matters."
Trump's chief envoy in Ottawa, Pete Hoekstra, told a business audience in Ottawa last week that U.S.-Canada trade talks will eventually restart, "but it's not going to be easy... The sooner we can get there, the better off it will be your companies and your employees."
Initially, Carney sought a broad economic-and-security deal with the U.S. Those negotiations have since narrowed to relief on tariffs of up to 50% on some key sectors, such as steel, aluminum, automobiles and forest products.
Write to Paul Vieira at paul.vieira@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 24, 2025 17:09 ET (22:09 GMT)
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