President Donald Trump suggested on Tuesday afternoon that he is considering some tariff relief for Canadian goods.
Trump’s comments came during an Oval Office meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Carney’s second trip to the White House since being sworn in during the spring. Multiple experts told the Washington Examiner that he would specifically seek relief on steel duties on Tuesday.
Trump, in response to the first question he fielded on Tuesday, told reporters that he would be discussing lowering the 50% steel and aluminum tariffs for Canada.
The president, responding to a follow-up, claimed to have already granted some relief to Canada on his metals tariffs, but he added that he is eying some type of exemptions for both American and Canadian auto manufacturers that ship products across the border throughout the building process.
“It’s a tough situation because we want to make our cars here,” Trump stated. “At the same time, we want Canada to do well making cars. So we’re working on formulas, and I think we’ll get there.”
Still, Carney is facing increased domestic pressure to broker some reprieve from Trump’s slate of tariffs, and multiple Canadian reporters pressed the leaders on why Canada has not yet negotiated a trade deal, like the United Kingdom and a handful of Asian countries.
Trump stopped short of saying that Carney would leave Washington with some type of trade deal but insisted Canadians are “going to be very happy.”
“We have a lot of things that we’re working on that people don’t talk about. They talk about competitiveness,” he said. “But I think they’re going to walk away very happy.”
WHITE HOUSE LOWERS CANADA’S TRADE EXPECTATIONS FOR TRUMP’S MEETING WITH CARNEY
You can watch Trump’s comments in full below.
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