Canada’s former top trade envoy warns of rockier U.S. relations ahead

Canada’s former chief trade negotiator said the country’s relationship with the United States will likely get even more precarious before it gets better.

Steve Verheul, who negotiated on behalf of the government in Ottawa during Donald Trump’s first administration, weighed in on the state of ties between the nations after trade talks collapsed last week. New U.S. tariffs took effect Saturday and Prime Minister Mark Carney announced retaliatory measures.

“There’s clearly been some damage to the bilateral relationship between Canada and the U.S. It may take some time. In fact, it probably should take some time before we get onto a better track,” Verheul said during a Bank of Montreal event.

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“We’re in a rocky period in the relationship between Canada and the U.S., and I think it’s likely to get even rockier before it begins to improve.”

Tensions between the two countries have been rising since talks to secure an interim trade deal broke down Friday night, leading to a new suite of 50 per cent tariffs from the White House.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Trump exchanged insults, with the leader of Canada’s largest province saying that Trump can “kiss my a——.” The U.S. president has threatened even more tariffs on Canada — 50 per cent tariffs on cars and auto parts — and said his administration was considering renaming Lake Ontario as Lake America.

Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance gave a speech in Maine in which he called Canada a “state,” before saying it was a “Freudian slip.”

The Carney government sees little chance of resuming talks with the Trump administration before the November U.S. midterm elections, Bloomberg News reported earlier this week.

Verheul said it seemed the two countries were on track to sign a deal last week, but the U.S. side tried to impose terms in the paperwork that made an agreement unworkable.