Trump & …: CUSMA agreement/ trade – no announcement yet: 1)Prime Minister Carney speaks with President of Mexico Claudia Sheinbaum; 2)(Update) Many premiers open to restocking U.S. booze but still have concerns about trade deal; 3)Carney touts ‘substantial progress’ after Trump delays tariffs; 4)Here’s the (long) list of items facing possible tariffs from the United States; 5)Joint statement on Israeli Government’s decision to publish construction tenders for the E1 settlement project
1)Prime Minister Carney speaks with President of Mexico Claudia Sheinbaum;
Courtesy: Prime Minister’s Office, Ottawa, Ontario
August 20, 2026
Today, the Prime Minister, Mark Carney, spoke with the President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum.
He thanked President Sheinbaum for Mexico’s support in combating wildfires in Canada this summer, including through the deployment of more than 400 firefighters and support personnel.
The Prime Minister and the President discussed ongoing developments affecting North American trade. They underscored the importance of renewing the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) as soon as possible to provide greater certainty for North American businesses and workers.
The leaders discussed the progress between Canada and Mexico on cross-border trade. They emphasised that strong bilateral cooperation is essential to shared continental security and prosperity.
Prime Minister Carney and President Sheinbaum agreed to remain in close contact.
Associated link
2)(Update) Many premiers open to restocking U.S. booze but still have concerns about trade deal
Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press
By David Baxter, August 20, 2026
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew arrives ahead of the First Ministers Meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney in Charlottetown on Thursday July 23, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese
Several premiers seem open to returning American liquor to provincial shelves, but there is little enthusiasm about the idea as questions still linger on what a deal to avoid 50 per cent tariffs on $28 billion worth of goods looks like.
Most premiers — but not Ontario’s Doug Ford — have now commented publicly since being briefed Wednesday by Prime Minister Mark Carney about the agreement with the U.S. to stop punishing new tariffs and address long-standing trade irritants on both sides of the border.
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said he is on Team Canada and will support the united approach even as he thinks Canada should keep fighting back against U.S. President Donald Trump, who he called “erratic” and untrustworthy.
Kinew said he’s still waiting for some details, including the exact nature of what tariffs will be on steel and aluminum, but said he doesn’t think Canada should concede much because Canada has “the upper hand.”
“I think we should fight,” he said. “I think Donald Trump is very weak. I think America is weaker around the world today than it was a year ago. He’s about to get slaughtered in the midterms.”
Trump announced Tuesday he was pausing planned new 50 per cent tariffs on a wide range of Canadian goods, while the two sides worked out the details of a new trade deal.
Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc was back in Washington meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to work on those details Wednesday. The two, along with Canada’s chief negotiator Janice Charette, hammered out most of the deal over the course of several meetings between Aug. 10 and Aug. 18.
“Canadians expect us to get a deal that’s in the economic interest of Canada and Canadian workers,” LeBlanc said as he left Greer’s office Thursday.
“We’re very close, we continue to make progress. We’re going to stay here and do the work that’s necessary until we get to that point.”
Even without having all the details yet, Carney asked premiers to accept the deal, which would require them to lift their prohibitions on U.S. booze. They have been in place since the winter of 2025, when Trump first began imposing new tariffs on Canada.
Kinew said Carney “effectively” told them there would be no deal without a pledge to put U.S. alcohol back on the shelves.
“I wouldn’t say that he was begging us, but what is a step before begging? So I get it from his perspective,” Kinew said during a press conference in Winnipeg Thursday.
He said he’s considering Carney’s request on U.S. booze but said that doesn’t mean he thinks people should buy it.
“When we put the American booze back on the Liquor Mart shelves, Canadians, leave it there. Spend your money on Canadian products that are going to employ people in our country and that have an administration that respects Canada,” Kinew said.
The sentiment was echoed Wednesday by Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston and on Thursday by New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt.
Holt told CBC News that she “has a hunch” her constituents wouldn’t buy American spirits even if they were on the shelves.
“It’s not coming back onto the shelves until the U.S. does something to take us back to the free and fair trade we used to have,” Holt told CBC.
Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Tony Wakeham, the current vice-chair of the premiers’ group known as the Council of the Federation, said in the call with Carney all premiers agreed to return U.S. booze to their shelves.
Not all premiers have confirmed that though — notably Ford, whose province both used to be the biggest customer for U.S. booze and has the most to lose if steel and auto tariffs aren’t lowered enough.
Ford has not yet said anything publicly about the trade deal.
Yukon Premier Currie Dixon said when the U.S. deal is done his territory will lift its ban on American alcohol, and Northwest Territories Premier R.J. Simson said he’d consider it.
Simpson, who recently took over as chair of the Council of the Federation, said while some provinces stand to be hit harder than others, he isn’t worried about cracks in the “Team Canada” approach.
“Ontario, with steel, that’s a big issue for them. And so it’s going to come down to that and how they feel they’re being treated in this, Simpson told The Canadian Press in an interview. “But if it’s good enough for Doug Ford, it’s good enough for me.”
Quebec Premier Christine Frechette said in French she had a “long call” with Carney Thursday.
“‘I had several answers to questions I had asked. Now, we need to analyze those answers and evaluate the impact it represents on Quebec’s economy. Once that analysis will be done, I will come back to you with my position,” Frechette said in French during a press conference in Roberval, Que.
Carney also spoke with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Thursday and the two talked about evolving North American trade, according to a readout issued by his office. Both leaders stressed the importance of renewing the Canada -United States-Mexico Agreement, or CUSMA, as soon as possible.
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet sent a letter to Carney Thursday morning demanding federal opposition leaders be consulted on a potential deal with the U.S.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Wednesday he has not received a briefing on the potential deal nor the negotiations.
Carney has yet to speak publicly about the deal, but in a statement released Wednesday he said the new deal reinforces and builds on Canada’s existing trade advantages with the U.S.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 20, 2026.
— With files from Catherine Morrison and Nick Murray in Ottawa, Ian Bickis in Winnipeg and Kelly Malone in Washington.
3) Carney touts ‘substantial progress’ after Trump delays tariffs
Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press
By Kelly Geraldine Malone, August 19, 2026
U.S. President Donald Trump announced late Tuesday a last-minute deal to delay new tariffs from slamming an array of Canadian products for three days.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said in response there’s still important work to do.
“Over the last number of weeks, Canada has engaged in intensive discussions with the United States to address outstanding trade issues and deliver greater certainty and real benefits for Canadian businesses, workers, farmers and families,” Carney said in a statement.
He said “substantial progress” has been made and Canada is focused on “building a stronger, more independent and more competitive economy at home.”
Carney’s statement came after Trump on social media said the duties were delayed “based on the fact that Canada and the U.S.A., subject to the finalization of documents, have a DEAL!”
The president pointed to the Keystone XL pipeline in his initial social media post, followed by a fictional image of him slamming an illustration of the pipeline into the ground.
“The great Keystone XL Pipeline, long ago killed by Sleepy Joe Biden, may be awoken from the grave!” Trump said in the post.
Former president Joe Biden signed an executive order to revoke the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, which would have transferred oil from Alberta to Nebraska, over long-standing climate change concerns.
Trump was set on changing that decision upon his return to office. Earlier this year, he signed an executive order for permits to revive parts of the Keystone project.
It’s not clear how much of the trade talks between Canadian and American officials focused on the energy project. Carney spoke with Trump by phone Tuesday, hours before the U.S. was set to bring in the punishing tariffs.
The 50 per cent levies on roughly $28-billion worth of Canadian goods would have targeted a range of products from hockey sticks and honey to wine and cement.
Top trade officials from Ottawa had been in Washington to hammer out a deal with American counterparts to stop the tariffs from being imposed.
Canadian officials were also looking to see relief on existing tariffs that target steel, aluminum, lumber and autos.
It remained unclear late Tuesday what had been agreed to under the tentative agreement Trump announced.
The United States Trade Representative’s office posted on social media that the deal includes “comprehensive market access for all American goods, economic security commitments, digital trade alignment, and many important provisions that will continue to protect our market and American workers, along with our Canadian partners.”
The president in July signed an executive action to hit Canada with the new duties using a Depression-era statute under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930. It had not previously been used for tariffs.
The U.S. said it was responding to a collection of irritants, such as provincial bans on American alcohol, a lack of access for U.S. dairy in Canada’s supply management system and Canadian quotas for tariff-free U.S. auto imports.
The executive declaration to delay the duties, signed by Trump Tuesday, said Canada had “expressed a commitment to remove the discriminations or unreasonable and unequal impositions.”
The two countries have been locked in a tit-for-tat trade battle since Trump took office last year. Canada imposed counter-tariffs in early 2025 in response to American tariffs on steel, aluminum and autos. Carney later rolled back many of the countermeasures.
The auto quotas and the booze bans, which are in place in all provinces except Alberta and Saskatchewan, were part of that retaliation.
In the negotiations, Canada has sought relief on existing U.S. tariffs on metals, autos and softwood lumber — a long-standing sore spot in trade relations between the two countries. The U.S. maintains Canadian lumber receives unfair government subsidies.
Carney and Trump also spoke by phone Monday, though neither Carney’s office nor the White House gave details about either call.
Before the Monday call, the prime minister told an unrelated news conference that Canada was negotiating from a place of strength and referred to the negotiations as “very delicate and intense.”
He also said his government had a plan for any situation.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer had warned that the U.S. would not tolerate any retaliation.
Arnold Viersen, the Conservative Party’s natural resources critic, said tariffs and mill closures are causing distress in lumber towns.
“When a mill closes, the consequences extend far beyond the individual workers who lose their jobs. Local businesses suffer, families leave, municipal revenues decline and communities risk becoming ghost towns,” Viersen said in a statement Tuesday.
He called on the government to negotiate a deal with the U.S. that’s good for Canadian workers.
Bea Bruske, president of the Canadian Labour Congress, said staying strong during tense negotiations means being unafraid to walk away from a bad deal.
“Canada must be prepared to hold firm on our interests and our red lines, while also having a clear plan to support workers and communities if tariffs come into effect,” she said in a statement.
— With files from Sarah Ritchie and David Baxter in Ottawa
4)Here’s the (long) list of items facing possible tariffs from the United States
Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press
By Canadian Press Staff, August 18, 2026
Talks between Canada and the United States are intensifying as the clock ticks down toward a midnight deadline that could see a steep 50 per cent tariff imposed on a range of Canadian exports.
If the two sides aren’t able to come to an agreement, goods including Canadian booze, cement, honey and hockey sticks will all face new duties at the U.S. border as of Aug. 19.
The varied collection represents roughly five per cent of all of Canada’s exports to the United States, to a value of roughly $28 billion annually.
The tariffs themselves are grouped by three executive orders loosely themed around motor vehicles, dairy and alcohol. But the content of each of U.S. President Donald Trump’s actual tariff lists are broader and not necessarily tied to those items.
Here’s a broad look at what’s in the Trump administration’s sights as negotiations enter the eleventh hour.
The dairy order:
Milk and cream
Whey and milk protein concentrates, including casein
Bones and horn-cones
Lactose, glucose, fructose and blended syrups
Sugars, cane molasses
Non-alcoholic beer
Essential oils of peppermint
The alcohol order:
Beer, wine, liquor, cider and other fermented beverages
Essential oils of grapefruit
Densified wood blocks, plates, strips
Some wooden tableware
Wood marquetry and inlaid wood, wooden articles of furniture
Skewers and ice cream sticks, as well as bamboo products
Basketwork and other articles
Grease-proof paper
Ice hockey and field hockey equipment, other than balls and skates
The motor vehicles order:
Natural honey
Down feathers
Tortoise shell, whalebone, horns, antlers and other animal parts
Tulips and other dormant flower buds, live orchids and mushroom spawn, tubers, mosses and lichen
Vegetable, tree and shrub seeds
A range of other vegetation and parts
Perfumes containing alcohol and plant parts used in perfume
Various essential oils
Makeup preparations
Doughs and other bakers’ mixes
Bitters
Synthetic paints and varnishes, printer inks
Cements
Candles
Various fatty acids
Vinyl floor tiles
Non-plastic office supplies
Plastic furniture fittings
Household and toilet articles, tableware, kitchenware
Dog leashes and saddles
Luggage and other cases, such as for musical instruments
Various fibreboard, laminate and plywood sheets
Various paper, wallpaper, binders, paper pulp products
Silk, yarn, carpet and other various textiles
T-shirts, sweaters, trousers, dresses, gloves, coats and other clothing items of various materials
Wigs, false beards, eyebrows of synthetic textile materials
Glass packing materials
Non-industrial diamonds, not set
Various gold, silver and imitation jewelry
A range of power tools and equipment
Armoured safes, locks and lockboxes
Brewery machinery
Refrigerating or freezing furniture and equipment
Vacuums
Smartphones and other recording devices
Devices containing semiconductors for data transmission and storage
Cameras and projectors
Radar equipment and antennae, optical fibre cables
Motorcycles fitted with an engine capacity of 800 cc or greater
Floating docks, vessels and rafts
Furniture seats and parts made of wood, plastic and metal with a range of outlined uses and exemptions
Chandeliers and lamps
Toys, puzzles and models
Video game consoles
Christmas and other festival decorations
Ice skates, golf and gym equipment
Swimming pools, wading pools and parts
Fishing rods and parts
Paintings, drawings, collages, sculptures of various ages
Postage stamps and other collectors’ pieces
Antiques of an age exceeding 100 years but not exceeding 250 years
5)Joint statement on Israeli Government’s decision to publish construction tenders for the E1 settlement project
Main Content
August 20, 2026
Ottawa, Ontario
Statement by the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, and the United Kingdom on the Israeli Government’s decision to publish construction tenders for the E1 settlement project.
“The Israeli Government’s decision to publish construction tenders for the E1 settlement project is unacceptable. The international community has long opposed this settlement expansion, and has voiced their grave concerns privately and publicly. The E1 settlement will undermine the prospect of the two-state solution by driving a wedge through the West Bank and harming the territorial contiguity of the Palestinian Territories.
International law is clear that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal. This is the position of the international community reaffirmed by the United Nations Security Council.
At a time of grave instability in the West Bank with unprecedented levels of violence by settlers against civilians, and serious restrictions on the Palestinian economy, this decision is even more concerning.
We urge the Government of Israel to retract these plans immediately and end its expansion of settlements in the West Bank. Not only will they take us further from peace, but they further undermine Israel’s international standing.
Businesses should not consider bidding for construction tenders. They should be aware of legal and reputational consequences including the risk of involving themselves in serious breaches of international law.
We reiterate our commitment to a comprehensive, just and lasting peace based on the two-state solution. We will continue to act in its interest.”