U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra told a Toronto summit last week that Ottawa should negotiate more aggressively on trade. When asked about President Donald Trump's claim that the U.S. does not need Canada, Hoekstra said the president was misunderstood.
"You maybe don't like the way the president says it, but take it in the tone of … 'We're open to offers. Make your case,'" Hoekstra said.
At the same event, Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc said his team had done just that. "We're not waiting for that process as an idle spectator," he said. "We have put before the United States, before President Trump, some very specific offers …"
Pressed for details, LeBlanc demurred: "We don't negotiate the details of these issues publicly," noting progress in talks with USTR Jamieson Greer and chief negotiator Janice Charette.
Canada is seeking a 16-year renewal of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), but its offer remains under wraps.
Experts See Rhetoric, Not Substance
Trade watchers mostly saw Hoekstra's comment as rhetoric. "I took it as a throwaway line… I take it with a grain of salt," said Colin Robertson, former diplomat and fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.
Richard Stern, vice president of the Plymouth Institute for Free Enterprise at Advancing American Freedom, also dismissed Hoekstra's comment as performative. "That sounded like bluster … to score what they think are some cheap political points," he said.
Stephen Nagy, senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, said Hoekstra's gambit was an opening — but risky. "Yes, it is an opening — it's an opening for us to screw up," he said. Nagy noted that Ottawa is already moving in the "right" direction with stronger Indo-Pacific signalling, intelligence coordination, and Prime Minister Mark Carney's pro-U.S. stance internationally.
Domestic Politics Complicate Talks
But the problem is domestic politics. "Canadians are… livid about Trump. They hate him and the United States," Nagy said, suggesting voters may oppose major compromises.
The U.S. Trade Representative's 2026 list of trade irritants with Canada includes dairy supply management, liquor bans, forced-labor enforcement, the Online Streaming Act, digital rules, retaliatory tariffs, and trade with China, among others. But nothing has resulted in a specific request.
Stern noted that there have not been "real concrete asks" from the U.S. Still, a few potential concessions stand out to trade watchers.
For Nagy, most of the contention is really about security and China, and the core U.S. objective is restructuring North America's industrial base to compete with China.
