Quebec’s premier met Monday in Washington DC with Jamieson Greer, the chief trade negotiator for President Donald Trump, as the US grows more aggressive in its demands on Canada ahead of continental free trade deal negotiations.
Greer, a former US Air Force attorney who was chief of staff to Trump’s first-term trade representative Robert Lighthizer, has vowed to pursue the president’s hardline trade policies.
Prime Minister Christine Fréchette’s office did not release details of her meeting with Greer, but the prime minister told Radio-Canada that their discussions were cordial but did not lead to any major progress.
Fréchette traveled to Washington for her first official trip abroad since being sworn in as prime minister earlier this month. She held a roundtable discussion Monday morning with representatives of business associations, including the National Lumber and Building Materials Dealers Association and General Motors. And she was also scheduled to meet with Congressional representatives.
The United States is Quebec’s main trading partner, but as of March 2025, US tariffs have hit some of the province’s industrial sectors hard. Quebec aluminum and steel have been hit with 50 percent tariffs.
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Her meeting with Greer comes ahead of negotiations between Canada, the US and Mexico on a continental free trade pact, scheduled to begin on July 1. And it comes as the U.S. is trying to encourage Canada’s aluminum and steel sectors to expand in the U.S. in order to enjoy tariff relief, according to an April 23 federal announcement from the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Also, a news report said that the Americans are seeking concessions from Canada as a precondition for starting negotiations on the Canada-United States-Mexico Trade Agreement, better known as CUSMA.
At a congressional committee hearing last week, Greer said it was a problem Canada was looking to diversify its trading partners, particularly with Europe.
“They’re doubling down on globalization when we’re trying to correct the problems of globalization. So these are two models that don’t fit very well together,” he said.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on April 27, 2026.
– With files from the Associated Press
&copies 2026 The Canadian Press
