US, Canada set for trade deal at APEC: report

A U.S.-Canada trade agreement on steel, aluminum and energy is reportedly ready for Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump to sign at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit this month.

Sources familiar with the negotiations told The Globe and Mail that the deal will likely involve Canada accepting steel export quotas in exchange for reduced U.S. tariffs. Talks have excluded critical minerals, despite Washington’s broader push to secure these resources.

Trump triggered the dispute earlier this year by imposing tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminum and cars. Ottawa responded with its own tariffs, setting off months of negotiations aimed at de-escalating the trade war. As part of its strategy, Canada has offered targeted tariff relief on select U.S. and Chinese steel and aluminum products to support domestic industries caught in the crossfire.

Keystone XL

Carney visited Washington in early October and said he had reached “a meeting of minds” with Trump on the future of steel and aluminum trade. Their discussions also touched on energy cooperation, with Carney raising the defunct Keystone XL pipeline as a possible bargaining chip.

Originally designed to move 830,000 barrels of crude oil per day from Alberta to Nebraska, Keystone XL was terminated in 2021 by Calgary-based TC Energy (TSE: TRP-A) after then US president Joe Biden revoked its permit shortly after taking office.

The company then spun off its oil pipeline business into a new company, South Bow. In February, when Trump repeated calls to get the pipeline built, South Bow said that it had “moved on” from Keystone.

As Carney positions Canada for a deal that could ease pressure on domestic industries, analysts say the APEC summit may mark a turning point in a strained but strategically vital trade relationship.