Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada is ready to push back harder against the United States if the two countries can't reach a trade deal before new American tariffs kick in Aug. 19.

"We are going to do everything that would be necessary if there isn't a deal on Aug. 19," Carney said Wednesday at an announcement in Toronto (The Globe and Mail). "The time to get tougher will be if there is a moment where there isn't a deal with the Americans."

He didn't say what kind of retaliation he's considering, saying only that Canada "has options." Carney has already ruled out using energy exports — like oil and gas — as a tool in the talks.

The Aug. 19 deadline comes from Trump's announcement last month of new tariffs on US$20-billion worth of Canadian exports, including alcohol, dairy and electronics. He's also separately imposed 50-per-cent tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum. After the latest announcement, Carney said "everything is on the table" when it comes to how Canada might respond (Reuters).

Carney said Canada wants one big deal that covers all the tariffs Trump has put on different sectors. "We want all 232s addressed, all strategic sectors. Steel, aluminum, autos, forest products," he said. He called the auto industry "very much at the core of what we're talking about" in the talks.

Negotiators have brought back an idea where Canada would agree to limit how much steel and aluminum it sells to the U.S., in exchange for the U.S. dropping its 50-per-cent tariffs on those metals, according to The Globe and Mail.

Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc and chief negotiator Janice Charette are in Washington for the second time in two weeks to push the talks forward. On Tuesday they met with Jay Timmons, head of a major U.S. manufacturing group. On Wednesday they sat down with Republican Senators Kevin Cramer of North Dakota and Bill Hagerty of Tennessee. Carney said he's had direct conversations with the Americans and called them "real negotiations, constructive negotiations on several issues."

Carney also said Canadian tariffs on goods not covered by the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement — the trade deal that replaced NAFTA — will stay in place. The government will focus on industries the U.S. has targeted (Reuters). Separately, Canada put a 25-per-cent tariff on certain steel products from all countries starting Dec. 26, 2025 (Prime Minister's Office).

The broader context here is that the U.S. is using two different laws to impose these tariffs at the same time — one for steel and aluminum, and another for the alcohol, dairy and electronics round. That gives Washington pressure points across several industries at once. It also makes Canada's job harder, because it has to negotiate a single deal that removes tariffs put in place under two separate laws.

Carney is juggling two goals at once: getting rid of the existing steel and aluminum tariffs, and trying to stop the Aug. 19 round before it starts. By keeping quiet about his options and taking energy off the table, he's narrowed the likely Canadian response to more tariffs on certain goods. The revived idea of limiting steel and aluminum exports in exchange for dropping the metal tariffs suggests both sides are looking at a managed arrangement — not a full return to how things worked before. That would be a real change in how Canada and the U.S. trade metals.

Canada's meetings with U.S. senators and a major manufacturing group suggest it's trying to build pressure on the administration from inside the U.S. — something Canada did during earlier trade disputes. The challenge now is time: just under two weeks before Aug. 19, with no public sign that the key disagreements over autos and the tariff list have been resolved.