A political expert is shedding light on what may have gone wrong with Canada’s trade deal with the U.S. as the deadline loomed.
Rumours suggest Howard Lutnick, the U.S. Commerce Secretary, played a role, according to Asa McKercher, professor of political science at St. Francis Xavier University.
If it was Lutnick who put in a last-minute change that forced Canada to leave the table, McKercher says that makes sense, considering Lutnick’s previous comments on the auto-industry.
Multiple reports say it was October 2025 when Lutnick said Canada should come “second” when it comes to the automotive industry.
“They want Canada to suck it up and accept what, by all accounts, was a really bad deal,” says McKercher.
“Or [they want] just to create such an unfriendly business climate in Canada that big firms, particularly in auto manufacturing and steel and other things, will shut down their Canadian plants and move their production into the United States.”
It was Friday night when Canada and the U.S. were approaching a new trade deal but last-minute requests forced Prime Minister Mark Carney to pull the plug and send the negotiators back home.
Taking aim at French language
One of those requests included language that would limit Canada’s ability to make trade deals with other countries.
Another took aim at French language protections, including the requirement to put French on electronic, household appliances, manuals and packaging.
As the Prime Minister put it on Saturday, it was “unacceptable.”
Speaking in French, Carney told reporters that the U.S. suggested changing the discoverability of Francophone media online, as well as removing French from packaging. He also said there were other examples but did not elaborate.
In French, he said, “That is never on the table.”
There has been a recent push from big tech firms, according to McKercher, to do away with French translations on packaging, appliances or in advertisements because it is an added expense.
“So I gather that was one of the sort of last-minute issues that the Trump administration proposed, probably in an effort to scupper the deal,” he says, meaning to sabotage it.
“To have a bilingual country like Canada do away with sort of any sort of French language requirements would be a bit like asking Americans to sort of cancel college football or do away with apple pie.”
