Carney-Trump Call 'Very Intense and Delicate' as Canada Braces for Midnight 50% Tariff Deadline

Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke by phone with President Trump on Monday afternoon ahead of the 50% Section 338 tariffs — covering roughly $20 billion of Canadian dairy, alcohol, and motor-vehicle goods — set to take effect 12:01am EDT Wednesday, August 19. Carney declined to detail the call, describing the negotiations only as 'very intense and delicate' and saying it was 'not the time to negotiate in public.' Canada's Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc and chief negotiator Janice Charette met US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in Washington the same day — LeBlanc's fourth meeting with Greer in three weeks — saying afterward, 'We're going to continue working. Our job is not yet done.' The main sticking points remain auto-tariff content rules (Canada wants the existing 25% rate cut to 15% based on North American-content eligibility, while the US wants US-content-only credit), unresolved steel and aluminum tariffs, and Canada's dairy supply-management system. Trade experts noted that continued talks hours before the deadline were an encouraging sign, with one former White House trade adviser observing that 'the hardest issues always get resolved at the very last moment.'