Provincial and federal negotiators are making progress with the Trump administration on lowering U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs on Canada, Ontario’s trade representative in Washington says, suggesting a deal could be close at hand.

David Paterson said he’s hopeful that further progress in reducing those tariffs can be made by the time Trump and Prime Minister Mark Carney are face-to-face at the G7 Leader’s Summit in Alberta in two weeks.

Asked by Mercedes Stephenson during an interview that aired Sunday on The West Block if he’s getting the sense from Republican lawmakers that the White House is open to such a quick timeline, Paterson said, “Yes.”

“You have a choice of either engaging — and that’s what we do in Washington — and trying to make progress, or sit back and

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