Carney welcomes any U.S. move to restore free trade

Prime Minister Mark Carney said Friday that his government welcomes “any moves” to restore free trade between Canada and the United States, as Democrats who won control of both chambers of Congress signal they want to end President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods.

Carney told reporters in Ottawa that he has not spoken with Democrats about legislation to end the tariffs. He said a free-trade arrangement is in the interests of Canadian and American workers and that Ottawa will keep working with Washington on a deal, The Canadian Press reported.

Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon expected to chair the Senate finance committee when the new Congress sits in January, has been talking to colleagues about a bill to counter Trump’s tariffs, including those on Canada, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. Even if such a bill passes, Trump can veto it, and overriding a veto takes a two-thirds vote in both chambers. That would need more than 20 Republicans in the House and 10 to 12 in the Senate, according to The Canadian Press.

Some Republicans have already broken with the president on the issue. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said after the election that tariffs have made everything too expensive. Abdul El-Sayed, who defeated Republican Mike Rogers in the Michigan Senate race, has called ending the “stupid tariffs on Canada” a priority.

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said Canada still needs to address the sectoral tariffs hitting Canadians “extremely hard,” including those on steel and aluminum. Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Wednesday that Ottawa’s push to diversify trade will not change course after the midterms.

Conservative MP Jamil Jivani, who has travelled to Washington to push for progress on trade talks, said Ottawa must find ways to work with Trump and that the dispute has become a distraction from domestic problems.

Trade talks collapsed in August, after which Trump imposed 50 per cent tariffs on an array of Canadian goods, banned some imports and signed an executive order renaming Lake Ontario as Lake America, The Canadian Press reported. Ottawa answered with retaliatory tariffs on specific U.S. products. Last month Trump lifted some tariffs on Canadian exports while adding duties on dozens of new products. A U.S. food importer has also challenged in court the president’s use of Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 to impose the duties.

Before the results were known on Tuesday, Carney said formal talks had restarted after a call with Trump and that the Americans were “asking less” and “offering more.” Trump said Friday that Stephen Miller will become White House chief of staff.

For Canadian households and businesses, what matters most is which tariffs stay in force while the new Congress waits to be seated. Our guide to Canada’s tariffs in effect now and what they cost you tracks the current list. Earlier, we reported on the Democratic win in the U.S. Senate and on why no trade deal was expected before the midterms.

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Sources: The Canadian Press, Nov. 6, 2026; Wall Street Journal as cited by The Canadian Press.