Canada says USMCA talks with Washington are productive and respectful

Canada’s ambassador to the United States, Mark D. Wiseman, is signaling that North American trade talks are moving on orderly ground even as the USMCA enters its first formal joint review. Speaking in Toronto on June 15 at a Canadian Club Toronto fireside conversation with BMO Financial Group chief executive Darryl White, Wiseman called the discussions with Washington over the pact and related tariffs “productive and respectful.”

Those words matter because they suggest the three-country dispute is being handled through technical bargaining rather than open confrontation. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Mexico’s Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard launched the review process in March, and U.S. officials told negotiators to start mapping issues such as rules of origin, economic security and supply-chain resilience. In practical terms, that means the most sensitive questions are not abstract diplomacy but the rules that decide whether parts, finished goods and inputs can keep moving across the border with preferential treatment.

A later USTR statement said the United States and Mexico would hold another bilateral round in Washington on June 16-17, with further discussions continuing through the summer on agriculture and broader competitiveness questions. That is the clearest sign yet that the review is becoming a series of concrete bargaining rounds. If the talks remain productive, companies could avoid a tariff shock, farmers could keep market access on predictable terms and manufacturers could preserve tightly linked supply chains that stretch from Mexico to the United States and Canada.

Wiseman also described the conversations behind the scenes as “serious, informed and respectful,” and said they were “rational, collaborative and businesslike.” That tone is useful, but it does not erase the real sticking points. U.S. President Donald Trump has publicly questioned whether the United States will renew the pact, and Brookings says the 2026 process can end with renewal, revision or termination. Canada has also been seeking a longer 16-year renewal and pushing sector-specific tariff talks, a sign Ottawa wants more certainty, not less, as the review advances.

The stakes reach far beyond diplomacy. The USMCA governs the largest trade relationship in North America, and any disruption would ripple through prices, auto production, farm shipments and cross-border logistics. For now, the immediate signal is constructive. The harder test will come as the Washington rounds turn vague assurances into decisions on tariffs, industrial policy and the future of the continent’s supply chains.