Hassett Says U.S.-Canada Trade Deal Is Very Close as Talks Pick Up Speed

White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said Sunday that the United States and Canada are “very close to finally having a deal” on trade, telling Fox News that negotiations have picked up and are gathering steam.

Hassett said Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has been talking with his Canadian counterparts all week. He said earlier efforts to reach an agreement were blocked by elections in Canada and by a movement in Alberta to separate from Canada, which failed, and that those events had made it essentially impossible to negotiate with Canada until now.

What changed, and what has not

Hassett’s comments came two days after President Donald Trump said Canada was working hard to reach an agreement while holding that the United States held the stronger negotiating position.

The dispute goes back to tariffs Trump announced on Canada and Mexico when he returned to office in January 2025, which he tied to border security and fentanyl crossing the border. Canada rejected those claims and answered with its own tariffs on U.S. goods. In August, after talks broke down, Washington imposed additional tariffs on Canadian imports and Ottawa responded with duties of its own.

The administration recently eased certain tariffs on Canadian products, a change Bloomberg reported followed lobbying by Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, whose state’s businesses were affected by the duties.

No terms of an agreement have been announced, and no timetable for a deal has been set. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has said Ottawa is prepared to keep negotiating but that any agreement must serve Canadian interests. The dispute has raised questions about the future of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

Reporting based on coverage by Barron’s and Newsmax.