A potential 7% floor on Canadian automobile tariffs was part of the U.S. offer in trade talks, Greer said, directly disputing Carney's public characterization that American proposals were inadequate. The U.S. package, as Greer described it, spanned four sectors: autos, softwood lumber, steel, and dairy and wine.
On softwood lumber, the U.S. had offered to eliminate the 10% tariff entirely. Steel duties, on the majority of Canadian product, would have been reduced to 25%. The U.S. proposed a potential suspension of a 50% tariff on dairy and wine. And a deal, Greer said, could have brought automotive tariffs as low as 7%.
The dispute turns on adequacy. Carney characterized the U.S. offers as falling short of what an agreement would require. Greer's counter attaches specific rates to each sector: full lumber relief, a 25% ceiling on most steel, a suspended dairy-and-wine tariff, and a 7% automotive floor. Those are materially different claims about the same set of talks.
What the exchange does not settle is whether those terms remain available. Neither official has addressed publicly what either side is prepared to put forward next.