Trump trade chief downplays fallout from Canada tariffs: 'This is business'

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Wednesday he is confident that fresh U.S. tariff threats on Canada won't jeopardize trade relations with the United States’ northern neighbor.

But he offered no sign that negotiations with Ottawa have advanced, or that the administration plans to abandon its monthslong push for separate, one-on-one talks with Canada and Mexico on extending their North American trade pact.

“For us, this is business,” he told reporters following an appearance before the Senate Finance Committee. “This is trade. This is economics. We're looking at bottom lines.”

President Donald Trump announced Monday that he will impose a 50 percent tariff on certain Canadian products in response to lingering irritants in the U.S.-Canada trade relationship. The tariffs, which are slated to go into effect Aug. 19, would apply to a raft of Canadian exports, from wine to hockey sticks, fishing rods, furniture and textiles. But the month-long lag before the duties go into effect gives the two sides time to negotiate a detente.

The measure ratchets up the tensions at a critical time for North American trade relations. U.S., Mexico and Canada are in discussions around updating the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement — the tariff-lowering trade deal Trump signed in his first term.

After testifying at the Senate Finance Committee hearing Wednesday morning, Greer is scheduled to travel to Mexico for the next round of bilateral talks, where he will meet with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Secretary of the Economy Marcelo Ebrard. The Trump administration has refused to launch parallel formal talks with Canada, although U.S. officials are in regular touch with Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government in Ottawa.

“I’m hopeful that before the end of the year, we could have at least options for President Trump and the leaders of Canada and Mexico to consider potential interim arrangements or things that Canada can do on the one hand and Mexico can do on the other hand to strengthen enforcement and to improve their commitments toward us,” Greer told lawmakers, adding that U.S. demands for stronger rules of origin, as well as labor issues, are likely to be addressed next year.

Greer also downplayed the scope of Trump’s threatened duties on Canada, arguing that the new tariffs would apply to only “a small handful of goods.”

He estimated that about $20 billion of Canadian exports would be subject to the 50 percent tariff rate under the plans. U.S. goods imports from Canada topped $380 billion in 2025, according to USTR.

Greer suggested during Wednesday’s hearing that agricultural trade issues remain a central issue in USMCA talks with Mexico City, highlighting Mexico’s antidumping investigation on U.S. pork leg and shoulder exports. “If they take action on pork, the consequences for them could be quite challenging, given their dependence on us,” Greer told lawmakers.

He also said that progress in the talks are contingent on Mexico’s government taking steps to honor a treaty signed in 1944 to send water to the U.S. from the Rio Grande, an important source of irrigation for Texas’ ag industry. Mexico has persistently fallen short of its commitments in recent years.

“The president is going to have a hard time agreeing to renewal or even revisions if Mexico isn't playing ball in all areas — and the water treaty is one of them,” Greer said.

Greer was on the Hill just days before the administration’s 10 percent global tariff is set to expire. The tariffs rely on a statute — Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 — that only allows duties to stand for 150 days to deal with a balance-of-payment crisis. The administration has indicated that after those duties hit their expiration date on Friday, it plans to pivot to alternative tariff authorities to keep its tariff agenda in place.

But Greer’s office has not issued a final report in a trade investigation into forced labor that could justify new replacement duties.

“We're not focused on a particular timeline. We're focused on fulfilling the legal and statutory requirements,” Greer told reporters after the hearing. He was equally coy when speaking about whether the administration could reissue a Section 122 proclamation to reinstate the duties.

“You all are just going to have to stay tuned,” he told reporters. ”You're going to be busy the next few days, probably.”