WASHINGTON — Canada’s new chief trade negotiator to the United States met her American counterpart in Washington on Friday as Ottawa sought to steady the bilateral relationship ahead of a review of the critical continental trade pact.

Janice Charette was joined by Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Canada’s newly-appointed Ambassador to the United States Mark Wiseman for a meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

In a statement, LeBlanc’s office said they had a “constructive and substantive discussion” about the coming review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on trade — better known as CUSMA — and broader bilateral trade issues.

“Minister LeBlanc and Ambassador Greer agreed to continue to work together on these trade issues, and will speak again in the coming days to further their discussions,” the statement said.

The meeting is being seen as a sign of a thaw in Canada-U.S. relations after President Donald Trump froze negotiations with Canada last year because he was angered by an Ontario-sponsored ad quoting former president Ronald Reagan criticizing tariffs.

While no formal negotiations had been taking place, LeBlanc and Greer continued to communicate by phone. Greer told Fox Business last month that Canadians maintain barriers that make it difficult to hold bilateral trade talks.

“They refuse to sell U.S. wine and spirits on their shelves,” Greer told Fox Business. “There are a variety of issues they have not addressed and aren’t addressing and this makes it a big challenge and an obstacle for starting real negotiations with them.”

The meeting between Greer and Canada’s new trade team comes at an important time for North American trade talks.

The continental trade pact is up for review this year but Trump has cast doubt over CUSMA’s future. He has called the trade deal negotiated during his first administration “irrelevant” and has said it may have served its purpose.

Speaking to reporters in Tokyo on Saturday — Friday in Canada — Prime Minister Mark Carney said that while he has not spoken to LeBlanc, he learned in a debriefing that the minister’s discussions with Greer were constructive and substantive.

“That’s not surprising, because beneath the surface, over the course of the last 12 months, there’s been an exchange on a number of issues, so-called trade irritants,” he said. “This was an advancement of that.”

Asked about upcoming trade talks between the U.S. and Mexico, Carney said that Trump and other U.S. officials have said that there will be “an element of bilateral discussions” in the talks.

Carney said the trade issues affecting Canada and Mexico aren’t always the same.

“We don’t necessarily need to be at the table for the issues with Mexico,” he said.

CUSMA has shielded Canada and Mexico from the worst impacts of Trump’s tariffs. His worldwide 10 per cent duty does not apply to goods that comply with the trade agreement.

Canada is still being slammed by Trump’s separate tariffs on industries like steel, aluminum, autos, lumber and cabinets.

Carney said Wednesday that CUSMA “effectively has been broken in the short term by U.S. actions.” Carney, who was in Australia at the time, said that through the CUSMA review, Canada is looking to “re-establish the trust” individuals, businesses and investors need to guide trade between nations.

While talks with Canada were paused for months, the United States and Mexico continued negotiations.

Greer’s office announced Thursday that the Trump administration was officially launching CUSMA review negotiations with Mexico, with meetings scheduled for later this month.

Mexico’s Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said in a post on social media that talks with the United States would address issues related to rules of origin, increasing production, supply chain security and economic integration to boost the region’s competitiveness.

LeBlanc led a large trade mission to Mexico last month. At the time, he said his Mexican counterparts wanted to maintain the trilateral trade agreement.

The CUSMA review sets up a three-way choice for each country to make in July. They can renew the deal for another 16 years, withdraw from it or signal both non-renewal and non-withdrawal — which would trigger an annual review that could keep negotiations going for up to a decade.

Trump’s comments suggest it’s unlikely the president is looking to rubber-stamp the deal this summer, and lengthy negotiations are expected.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 6, 2026.

— With files from The Associated Press

Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press