Trump and Cusma negotiations: 1) Businesses ‘desperately in search of certainty’ on trade deal — but at what price?; 2)Trump ‘not looking to renew’ CUSMA trade pact, says no need for Canadian imports; 3)(Updated) Gordie Howe Bridge opening delayed to resolve ‘outstanding issues’: bridge authority

1)Businesses ‘desperately in search of certainty’ on trade deal — but at what price?

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Christopher Reynolds, June 5, 2026.

When the Trump administration took aim at free trade last year, Ryan Zoehner felt like he was under fire.

“Our supply chain got caught in the crosshairs,” said the CEO of Algo, a Vancouver-area manufacturer whose 165 employees make speakers, strobe lights and intercoms for use in schools, hospitals and airports.

The maze of tariff walls thrown up by U.S. President Donald Trump as well as Canada’s retaliatory duties meant Zoehner had to reroute the flow of 5,000 parts used in Algo products, many of which ultimately land on American loading docks.

More than the cost of the tariffs, it was the turbulence stirred up by a barrage of trade threats and shifting rules that menaced his bottom line.

“Volatility is the main word,” he said.

Zoehner hopes the opposite will emerge from trade talks.

“The No. 1 thing as a business leader I’m looking for is consistency and clarity,” he said. Closer integration is the ideal, hammered out quickly if possible, longer if necessary.

Zoehner isn’t alone as he straddles a divide over how to handle discussions with America’s famously fickle head of state.

Canada’s business community says a deal that lets most goods flow to the United States tariff-free is the top goal as negotiators gear up for trade talks. But corporate leaders disagree on how best to reach that outcome, diverging on whether a quick-and-dirty deal or a wait-and-see approach offers the best path.

The former brings stability for companies sooner but possibly at the cost of more concessions, while the latter sees Trump’s sagging poll numbers ahead of the U.S. midterm elections as leverage for Canadian negotiators, but prolongs the pain at home, the arguments go.

The heads of groups representing manufacturers, steelmakers and CEOs fall on one side of the debate, saying the cloud of uncertainty has stifled capital investment, hurt bottom lines and upped the urgency to lock in an agreement.

On the other side, many small business owners and tech firms believe that the more time passes, the more pressure builds on Trump.

Just this week, the Trump administration proposed a 10 per cent additional tariff on Canada and other countries, though the vast majority of goods exported to the U.S. are compliant with the existing trade pact and exempt from levies.

“We’re desperately in search of certainty, in search of predictability, both of which would inspire confidence to deploy capital,” said Goldy Hyder, CEO of the Business Council of Canada.

“Stretching this out is going to be harmful for all of us.”

Many companies have gone into survival mode, he said, resulting in sluggish economic growth across the continent over the past year, especially in Mexico and Canada.

Some tariffs should be expected, Hyder said, echoing other business leaders. But they say those levies must be lower than the rates for other countries and the vast majority of trade must be exempt under the agreement.

“You’ve got to pay to play now,” he said. “Tariffs in some shape or form are going to be there.”

Others warned against hurrying to shake hands with the dealmaker-in-chief.

“Rushing to a deal may not be a helpful outcome,” said Dan Kelly, who heads the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

“I don’t love the idea of us going into this kind of year-to-year renegotiation.”

A refusal by any of the three states to renew the trade deal for a 16-year extension would trigger that process of annual reviews — and potential revisions.

“But at the moment, that may be less problematic than a bad deal that we sign right away or a deal that then is not respected three weeks later,” Kelly said, noting Trump’s history of reneging on trade agreements — including the current deal that he signed himself.

The review deadline for the pact is July 1. By then, the countries will have to decide whether to renew it or renegotiate it. Most observers think the latter is a near-certainty. And the longer the limbo lasts, the more pain it inflicts.

Capital investment by manufacturers is down by a quarter this year, said Dennis Darby, CEO of the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters industry group.

“A bad deal is not a deal you want. But to be fair, the uncertainty is what is really hurting Canada’s economy,” he said.

Tariffs on the auto, steel, aluminum and lumber sectors have taken a heavy toll, costing thousands of jobs and billions of dollars.

Steel production has fallen 60 per cent, said Catherine Cobden, who heads the Canadian Steel Producers Association.

“That’s millions of tonnes,” she said, noting that more than half of Canada’s output used to be U.S.-bound.

“It’s a very dire, desperate situation.”

For Canadian Chamber of Commerce CEO Candace Laing, relief from punishing sectoral tariffs comes second only to renewal of the trade deal, or something closely resembling it.

“Yes, there is urgency,” she said. “We want to see a good deal, and that is more than a quick deal.

“Taking our time to get a good deal is not the same as wait-and-see and ragging the puck,” she qualified. “That’s not what we want and that’s not what Canada is doing.”

On Tuesday, Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc sat down with his American counterpart in Washington, a day after sending a letter to the U.S. and Mexico recommending the three countries renew the trade agreement.

To seal a deal, some leaders acknowledged that easing some of the trade irritants listed by the U.S. was essential.

Chief among those are the ban on American liquor in government-run stores in most provinces and restrictions on market access for U.S. producers of dairy, poultry, eggs and cheese.

“There may be some wiggle room there, to be honest,” John Corey, president of the Freight Management Association of Canada, said of Canada’s dairy supply management system.

Other concessions may also be in the cards.

On Wednesday, Ottawa directed the country’s communications regulator to back down on its recent decision to triple streamers’ financial contributions to Canadian content in what some see as a submission to asks from American streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.

“What I worry about any time that there’s a concession is that it’s to preserve a status quo instead of regain some leverage,” said Patrick Searle, CEO of the Council of Canadian Innovators.

A recent U.S. demand for 50 per cent American content in all North American-made autos marks a “really high bar,” said Fraser Johnson, professor of operations management at Western University’s Ivey Business School.

“But can Canadian suppliers adapt to that? The answer is probably yes.”

2)Trump ‘not looking to renew’ CUSMA trade pact, says no need for Canadian imports

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Dylan Robertson and Kelly Geraldine Malone, June 10, 2026

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, June 10, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

U.S. President Donald Trump is again saying the American economy does not need anything from Canada or Mexico and he is “not looking to renew” the continental trade pact.

Trump made the comments in the Oval Office Wednesday when asked about the July 1 deadline to renew the Canada-U.S.-Mexico agreement on trade, known in Canada as CUSMA.

If the deadline passes, the agreement stays in place subject to an annual rolling review for up to 10 years.

Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc travelled to Washington last week to meet with his American counterpart and sent a letter to the American and Mexican administrations calling for a 16-year extension of the agreement. Mexico’s secretary of economy, Marcelo Ebrard, also called for the extension.

Trump complained Wednesday about the trade deficit the U.S. has with Canada — which is caused by Canadian energy exports — and claimed the U.S. doesn’t need Canadian or Mexican cars, lumber or energy.

He repeated his claim that the previous NAFTA deal was “the worst trade deal ever made” and said the U.S. does better economically when it is autonomous, adding that both Canada and Mexico need the U.S.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said last week Washington has “technical issues” with Mexico and 30 trade issues with Canada of “varying technicality.”

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe reacted to Trump’s comments by saying Canadian leaders are squarely focused on getting a good deal.

“There is going to be a lot of rhetoric that will occur as we go through this review process,” he told reporters in Calgary after a speech at the Global Energy Show.

“We won’t be responding to daily comments that come out of the White House or even at times (that) come out of various levels of Canadian leadership as well.”

— With files from Lauren Krugel in Calgary.

3)(Updated) Gordie Howe Bridge opening delayed to resolve ‘outstanding issues’: bridge authority

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By David Baxter, June 11, 2026

The opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge has been delayed as the relationship between Canada and the United States continues to be upended by U.S. President Donald Trump.

The interim chief executive of the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority said Thursday that Canada and the U.S. have agreed to a delay as the two countries attempt to “resolve any outstanding issues.”

Prime Minister Mark Carney said Tuesday the bridge would be open by the end of the week. But he changed his message on Wednesday, saying there was “no big drama” surrounding the project, but if it “takes a little longer, it will take a little bit longer.”

Invitations already had been sent out for a ribbon cutting event on Friday to mark the opening of the $6.4-billion bridge connecting Windsor and Detroit. Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens had said there were rumours it would be open to traffic on Monday.

The opening was put into question earlier this week after White House officials said Trump had not changed his position since February, when the president posted on social media that the U.S. would need to be compensated before he would allow the bridge to open.

The White House has not yet responded to questions about whether the Trump administration intervened in the planned Friday event.

The Gordie Howe Bridge is co-owned by the governments of Canada and Michigan. Canada agreed to shoulder the cost of construction and recoup its investment through tolls, after which the money would be split with the state.

“Although we would all like the Gordie Howe Bridge to open, Canada need not fall on bent knee to make it happen. Get us a great trade deal (Carney)!” Dilkens wrote in a statement shared on social media Thursday morning.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s office said Thursday the bridge will be critical for the state. In an emailed statement, her office said the bridge is “ready thanks to extraordinary men and women on both sides of the border, and we look forward to its opening.”

“Michigan secured a great deal on the financing of this bridge: we haven’t paid a dime, yet we will reap significant economic benefits for decades,” the statement said. “This project is a powerful example of bipartisan and international co-operation, and the governor looks forward to attending the ribbon cutting ceremony when it happens.”

A Canadian source with knowledge of the planning — who is not authorized to speak publicly about it — said all signs the federal government received indicated the bridge was cleared to open.

The source said the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority — a Canadian Crown corporation responsible for the construction and administration of the bridge — has all the technical approvals it needs to proceed.

The bridge has faced significant pushback from members of the Moroun family, who own the competing Ambassador Bridge. House Democrats in Washington are looking into whether the family acted to obstruct the new bridge.

The New York Times reported that Matthew Moroun had a meeting with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick just before Trump’s social media post attacking the project.

It’s not clear whether the Trump administration has thrown the bridge opening into larger negotiations with Canada on a critical continental trade pact. Trump on Wednesday said he was “not looking to renew” the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on trade, known in Canada as CUSMA.

— With files from Kelly Malone in Washington.