Business leaders and academics say they expect to look at Canada and the US maintains free trade protection for most goods after reaching an agreement, even if the dialogue cannot close some regional tariffs.
It is not clear that the two countries would stick to the August 1 deadline to wrap the dialogue, as Prime Minister Mark Carney said that the conversation was in “acute phase” on Monday, but US President Donald Trump told reporters last week that Canada was not a priority for his administration.
Whether a deal has been announced on Friday or later, Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, says members of his organization feel that a good part of the business should be “talks-free” to be considered successful.
He says that this will not be a win for Canada if the trade agreement looks similar to the deal killed by the US with the European Union on Sunday.
The structure imposes 15 percent tariffs on most of the goods imported in the US, including European automobiles, and there is no carving for major products such as pharmaceuticals and steel.
Kelly says that the leaders of the Canadian trade will also be seeing what the levy will be on the import of levy from the US. Given the ongoing anti -cannabic tariff “actually cripping more small businesses than the US tariff.”