Canada doesn't 'get credit' for rolling back trade irritants, U.S. envoy says

Weeks after the American administration declined to extend the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement, U.S. trade envoy signalled there's been little progress in negotiations between the two countries.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer signalled there's been little progress in negotiations between Canada and the U.S., weeks after the American administration declined to extend the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement. Greer said "we just haven't seen a lot of movement" in trade talks with Canada, speaking at a security forum in Aspen, Colo., on Wednesday. He also acknowledged that Canada had rolled back two major trade irritants — the digital services tax and a separate tax hike on online streaming services — but with a caveat.

"I'm glad they did that but they don't really get credit for doing something bad and then undoing it," Greer said. On July 1, U.S. President Donald Trump's administration decided not to extend CUSMA, a move that started a negotiation period to amend the deal before the trilateral free trade agreement expires in 2036. "I'm in contact with my [Canadian] counterparts on a weekly basis," Greer said.

"Over the past year, like with other countries, I've given lots of proposals to the Canadians on things that could be done immediately that could put us in a better position." When asked for a response to Greer's comments, Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc's spokesperson told CBC News in a statement that "Canada is ready to do the work on an expedited basis to get to a successful renewal of the CUSMA and provide certainty and predictability to our workers and businesses." The spokesperson said "Canada has put forward proposals that are fair, balanced and good for the broader North American economy" and that they "look forward to further engagement."

What did Canada concede? Ottawa rescinded its digital services tax in June 2025, which would have had tech giants like Amazon, Google, Meta, Uber and Airbnb pay three per cent on revenues from Canadian users. The weekend before U.S. companies were set to be on the hook for roughly $2 billion US, Trump threatened to end all trade discussions with Canada if the tax wasn't removed.

The federal government later said in a release that it was revoking the tax "in anticipation of a mutually beneficial comprehensive trade arrangement with the United States." Last month, Ottawa called on the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to review its decision to triple streamers' financial contributions to Canadian content within the government's Online Streaming Act. The CRTC had initially set the base contribution from large online streaming providers like Disney+, Netflix and Prime Video to five per cent of company revenue, but chose to hike that fee to 15 per cent in May.

Greer listed the Online Streaming Act as a trade irritant, saying Wednesday that Canada "wanted American streaming companies to fund Canadian companies." Prime Minister Mark Carney had said the CRTC decision was about affordability for Canadians who could face subscription hikes over what became known as the "Netflix tax." Breakthrough at the top?

Recently, both American and Canadian officials have indicated that if there's going to be a major leap in bilateral trade talks, it's likely to take place at the highest level. "The reality is, if the president and Prime Minster Carney have an understanding, then I'm sure we can put together something that makes sense to get us over the hump," Greer said. At his end-of-sitting news conference last month, Carney agreed that any breakthrough would be between him and Trump.

"We could sign a bad deal this afternoon, we could have signed a bad deal a year ago," Carney said. "We're not going to sign a bad deal, so it has to be a real deal."