Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick tore into Canada's trade strategy Friday, calling it "the worst strategy I've ever heard" and declaring "they suck" just weeks before the U.S., Canada and Mexico must decide whether to extend their North American trade pact.
Speaking at Semafor's World Economy event in Washington, Lutnick was asked about former Canadian chief trade negotiator Steve Verheul's comment that time is on Canada's side in the talks because domestic pressure on the United States will only mount.
Lutnick rejected the premise outright, pointing to the size of the U.S. market. "Look, we are a $30 trillion economy, right? We are the consumer of the world," he said.
The commerce secretary then turned to Prime Minister Mark Carney, whose January visit to Beijing produced a preliminary agreement that lowered Canada's tariff on Chinese electric vehicles to 6.1% under an annual quota of 49,000 vehicles, in exchange for Chinese concessions on Canadian canola and other farm goods.
"Carney has a problem with us. He gets on a plane, and he goes to China," Lutnick said. "Does he think the Chinese economy's going to buy his stuff? China is entirely an export-driven economy. So what did he do? He came back, and he said, 'Oh, we'll take their electric cars.' I mean, is this nuts?"
A Commerce Department spokesperson told Semafor that Lutnick had been "misquoted" on the "suck" line, saying the secretary was "describing our unfair trade imbalance with Canada" and "explained how Canada sucks off of our $30T economy."
The rhetoric landed at a sensitive procedural moment.
Under USMCA, the three governments must complete a mandatory joint review by July 1 and decide whether to extend the agreement for 16 more years, to 2042.
If any party declines, the parties must repeat the review annually until they agree or the deal lapses.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told the Hudson Institute this month that Washington is unlikely to resolve every issue by that date and that he must formally notify Congress of the administration's intentions by June 1.
Lutnick signaled the White House wants structural changes, not a rollover.
President Donald Trump, who signed the current agreement in his first term, views USMCA as "a bad deal" that "needs to be reconsidered and reimagined correctly," Lutnick said.
He flagged auto production as a central concern, arguing that "the concept of taking an auto plant out of Ohio and Michigan and putting it in Mexico to break the union and to break our people is nuts."
The administration's posture is not uncontested on Capitol Hill.
A bipartisan group of nearly 40 senators wrote Greer this week, urging him to "fully enforce the existing terms" of USMCA, warning that the review should "reinforce, rather than undermine, the stability and opportunity" the pact provides to farmers and ranchers.
Formal U.S.-Canada talks are scheduled to begin in May, with Greer's notification to Congress due June 1 and the joint review set for July 1.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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