Trump says he expects Canada trade deal within weeks as import ban looms

WASHINGTON — With just hours to go before import bans on certain Canadian goods were set to take effect, U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday he thinks he can make a trade deal with Canada in the coming weeks.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said he thinks the Canadian side will contact him in the next three or four weeks and the United States will “win everything.”

“They’re gonna come in and they’re gonna say, ‘Sir, we are sorry,'” Trump said. “They’ve treated the United States very, very badly. I think a deal will be made but it’s gonna be fair.”

Trump’s bans — which mainly affect some alcoholic drinks, dairy byproducts and motorcycles — are set to begin at 12:01 a.m. ET Tuesday.

It’s the latest escalation of the trade war since negotiations between the two countries ended acrimoniously last month.

Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc’s office said Monday that “we take note of the coming into force of the Administration’s previously announced trade measures.”

“As has been the case for the last 18 months, our first priority remains on protecting and supporting Canadian workers, farmers, families, and businesses from these unjustified actions,” said Gabriel Brunet, LeBlanc’s spokesperson.

“Our core focus is on what we can control: building strength at home, diversifying our partnerships abroad, and building Canada strong for all Canadians.”

While the trade restrictions on Canadian goods are unlikely to significantly affect Canadian economic growth in the near term, they represent the latest fracture in Ottawa’s relationship with the Trump administration.

Trump on Monday repeated his inaccurate claims about Canadian agriculture tariffs, as well his more recent allegations about Canada’s immigration system letting people in unchecked.

Peter Navarro, Trump’s senior adviser on trade and manufacturing, told reporters that Canadians were “the most difficult and arrogant of the traders.” He claimed Ottawa was “getting in bed with” Beijing — despite the fact that Trump hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington last week.

United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said last week that “the reality is President Trump is comfortable where we are on Canada.” Greer said the Canadians “call us now and then” and there are conversations about potential deals.

“There’s no urgency on our side, I will say,” Greer told CNBC on Sept. 25.

Trade talks with the United States fell apart in late August and both countries have claimed the other added last-minute changes to the deal.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has accused U.S. negotiators of attempting to restrict Canada’s ability to negotiate other trade deals and of attempting to curb Canada’s protections for language and culture.

In the hours after negotiations were frozen, the United States hit an array of Canadian goods with 50 per cent tariffs. Ottawa responded with its own tariffs a few weeks later.

Trump responded by signing an order directing some federal agencies to remove Canadian goods from procurement lists, and another to impose the import bans. BMO estimates those banned export products to be worth about US$1 billion.

The president also signed an executive order to change the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America.

Canada is also being hit with 10 per cent tariffs which the Trump administration claims are connected to forced labour in supply chains. Those duties do not apply to goods that comply with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on trade, known as CUSMA.

And Canadian industries like steel, aluminum, automobiles and cabinetry are being slammed by Trump’s separate sectoral tariffs.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 28, 2026.

Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press