Charette called to say, “We have a problem.” How the trade talks broke down.

By 10 p.m. on Wednesday in Washington, the warning signs were clear.

Janice Charette called the prime minister and Dominic LeBlanc to say, “We have a problem.”

As wording of text was being sent back and forth, the Canadian side says the Americans were narrowing the scope of what Ottawa thought was agreed to, particularly on autos, reports Tonda MacCharles at The Toronto Star.

“Lutnick started pilfering the agreement,” said a stakeholder. “It would have been the total erosion of the automotive sector within the next 10 years in Canada.”

On the other hand, another Canadian stakeholder said, it wasn’t just Lutnick’s interventions that were raising the tension. On Thursday morning, Carney sent his chief of staff, Marc-André Blanchard, down to Washington with LeBlanc, where they would be joined by Canadian Ambassador to the U.S. Mark Wiseman at the ever-intensifying talks.

That shifted the dynamic from the American perspective.

Toronto Star article is archived.