The Trump administration is demanding what amounts to an "entry fee" from Canada to engage in trade talks toward a revised Canada-United States-Mexico Free Trade Agreement (CUSMA), four sources told Radio-Canada, CBC is reporting Wednesday.
"The Americans are setting conditions before negotiations begin," said one high-ranking individual familiar with the matter.
Three sources used the term "entry fee" to describe concessions the U.S. administration is seeking before formal trade talks begin.
The U.S. demand was also confirmed by former Quebec premier Jean Charest, who was appointed Tuesday to Prime Minister Mark Carney's new advisory committee on Canada-U.S. economic relations. "[U.S. President Donald] Trump wants us to make a lot of concessions before we sit down at the table," Charest told Radio-Canada. "Meanwhile, he wouldn't make any."
On the U.S. side, the report said, there are suggestions that Canada should try to get Trump's attention by making an immediate concession, especially since the president is juggling several major issues right now.
However, Canadian sources said they have twice offered concessions to the U.S. administration without receiving anything in return. On the way into a cabinet meeting Wednesday, Carney said the Canadian government has multiple levels of contacts with the U.S. administration that address different trade issues between the two countries. "It's not a case of the United States dictates the terms. We have a negotiation, we can come to a mutually successful outcome, it will take some time and we will take some time," he said.
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