By Paul Vieira and Amanda Coletta
OTTAWA--U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said retaliatory measures from Canada on U.S. products are a major hurdle thwarting talks between the two countries on a renewed trade pact.
In an interview with Fox Business on Tuesday, Greer said senior USTR officials are conducting formal negotiations with Mexico, ahead of a July 1 date in which a formal review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade treaty, or USMCA, begins. The U.S. could decide to either renew the treaty for another 16 years, or decline renewal and subject the trade deal to annual reviews for a decade--at which time the pact would expire unless there is an agreement among the three North American countries.
Unlike Mexico, Greer said, Canada "has a different approach to the United States. They have some retaliatory tariffs still in effect, and that makes it a problem for us to negotiate."
Greer didn't specify which tariffs posed a problem for Washington. Representatives of the USTR didn't respond to questions seeking more details.
Canada maintains tariffs on American-made steel, aluminum and automobiles, in response to hefty U.S. duties on those foreign-made goods. Greer and other Trump administration officials have repeatedly criticized a ban on the sale of U.S. wine and spirits in most Canadian provinces, in their government-owned liquor retailing outlets.
A spokesman for Dominic LeBlanc, the Canadian minister in charge of U.S. trade, did not respond to a request for comment. LeBlanc visited Greer last week, and the Canadian minister said at the time that the encounter as positive, and that he presented specific proposals to address Trump administration concerns about Canada.
Representatives for USTR did not respond last week to queries seeking comment about Greer's meeting with Canadian officials.
For their part, some Canadian provincial leaders said they are not budging on their ban on U.S. wines and spirits, which the Washington-based Distilled Spirits Council said led to a 63% drop in U.S. alcohol exports last year to Canada.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Tuesday he won't allow U.S. alcohol on retail shelves until there is a trade deal between Ottawa and Washington. "I can assure you once that deal is done, I'm going to be sitting down and bringing all the booze back on shelves in Ontario, and everyone's going to be Kumbaya."
Write to Paul Vieira at paul.vieira@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
06-09-26 1721ET
