OTTAWA — U.S. President Donald Trump says he expects his constantly evolving trade war with Canada to end “pretty soon” despite formal trade negotiations not resuming since they fell apart in August.
Trump told a rally in Port Huron, Michigan, on Sunday that Canada had been “ripping off” the U.S. on trade and the U.S. had no choice but to impose levies on Canadian goods.
He said the trade dispute would be settled “pretty soon” and that Canada was “willing to give us anything at this moment.”
A spokesperson for Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc’s office said the two sides “remain in constructive dialogue” on a “range of priorities. The spokesperson said Canada is ready to work constructively on a mutually beneficial deal that “respects Canada’s interests.”
Diplomatic relations between Canada and the U.S. have been dicey since Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government walked away from formal trade talks in August after the Americans made what Carney called unreasonable last-minute demands.
In response, Washington imposed tariffs on billions of dollars in Canadian goods, and Ottawa followed up with retaliatory tariffs on American products.
“Canada has been ripping off the United States for years, OK? For years. And I had to do it. We’ll have that settled pretty soon. They’re willing to give us anything at this moment,” Trump said Sunday.
Trump has repeatedly insisted Canada has treated the United States unfairly despite the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement he negotiated and bragged was a great deal during his first term.
Trump’s trade war with Canada has been a key issue in the November midterm elections, especially in tight races. The Republicans currently control both the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate but polls suggest they are in danger of losing one, or both of those chambers after the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
Trump announced Friday he will lift some of the 50 per cent tariffs on Canada at the end of the month, while adding tariffs to dozens of new products, including Canadian garbage and sewage.
The tariff changes reportedly came at the request of Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine, an eastern state on the Canada-U.S. border hit hard by the trade dispute.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 26, 2026.
-with files from David Baxter in Ottawa and Aaron Sousa in Edmonton
The Canadian Press
