The minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade says he’s hoping to make progress on one-off, sector-specific tariff deals with the U.S. before the official review of North America’s trilateral trade pact begins.

Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc said today Ottawa hopes to “make progress before” the formal Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement review begins next year, and “nobody has yet suggested” Ottawa should fold the sector-specific talks into the broader review.

He said Canada is still in discussions on dropping sector-specific tariffs that are putting pressure on Canadian industries and he does not see “a dead end in those conversations.”

LeBlanc made the comments at a Senate foreign affairs committee hearing this morning.

U.S. President Donald Trump ramped up his

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