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Tensions are running high ahead of the mandatory mid-term review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney drawing a firm line against Washington’s attempts to dictate trade negotiation terms.

Carney made clear this week that Ottawa will not accept one-sided demands from the United States ahead of upcoming bilateral talks, rejecting framing that casts Canada as a supplicant to U.S. interests. “It’s not a case where there is someone making demands, and a supplicant,” Carney told reporters. “It’s not a case that the United States dictates the terms. We have a negotiation, we can come to a mutually successful outcome – it will take some time.”

Carney’s comments come amid deep public rifts between the two neighboring trade partners, after top U.S. trade official Jamieson Greer told members of Congress this week that Canada and the U.S. remain fundamentally misaligned on core trade priorities. Greer accused Canada of doubling down on outdated globalist trade frameworks even as Washington works to address the economic downsides of decades of unregulated globalization.

The three North American trade partners face a mandatory 1 July 2026 deadline to complete the scheduled review of the 2018 USMCA deal, which replaced the earlier NAFTA agreement. While Mexico will launch formal bilateral negotiating rounds with the U.S. in May – following a recent meeting between Greer and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum – formal U.S.-Canada talks have not yet begun, though lower-level trade officials have maintained behind-the-scenes contact.

To prepare for the talks, Carney convened a new cross-party advisory committee on U.S.-Canada trade relations this week, with the group’s first inaugural meeting scheduled for next week. Former Quebec Premier Jean Charest, a member of the new committee, told Canadian public broadcaster Radio-Canada that the U.S. is already demanding sweeping concessions from Ottawa even before formal talks get underway.

Among the top sticking points is Canada’s decades-old dairy supply management system, a long-running irritant for U.S. agricultural interests. U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick repeated Washington’s criticism this week, telling a Senate committee that Canada treats American dairy producers “poorly,” echoing former President and current U.S. political figure Donald Trump’s 2025 claims that Canada charges extraordinary tariffs of up to 400% on U.S. dairy imports.

Canada’s supply management system strictly controls domestic production and import volumes to support the livelihoods of Canadian small-scale dairy farmers, allowing a set quota of U.S. dairy imports to enter Canada tariff-free. Data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirms that the U.S. has never actually hit that import quota limit, despite ongoing complaints.

Canadian Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc drew a clear red line on dairy negotiations this week, telling the *Globe and Mail* that the issue is non-negotiable for Ottawa. “We’ve been very clear with them,” LeBlanc said. He added, however, that Canada is prepared to address most other U.S. concerns, as long as talks progress as part of a balanced, comprehensive broader agreement.

Other outstanding points of friction include Canada’s earlier decision to remove U.S. liquor from retail shelves in retaliation for U.S. tariffs, which Lutnick this week called “disrespectful.” Canada has already made one major concession to the U.S. in recent months, dropping a planned digital tax on large U.S. tech firms last June after the Trump administration flagged the policy as a major trade irritant.

While both sides remain committed to restarting formal talks, senior officials on both sides have acknowledged that a final deal is unlikely to be reached before the 1 July deadline. If no agreement is reached by the deadline, the USMCA will move to annual review cycles until the full agreement expires in 2036. Greer emphasized this week that Washington’s core goal in the renegotiation is to preserve U.S. market access to Canada and Mexico, leaving the ultimate trajectory of the trilateral trade deal hanging in the balance.

Veteran Democratic U.S. Congressman David Scott, who represented Georgia’s 13th Congressional District for over 20 years, has passed away at the age of 80, just one day after he cast his last vote on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. At the time of his death, Scott was actively campaigning for a 13th consecutive term in the Democratic primary election scheduled for next month, having repeatedly rejected calls to step down amid growing public questions about his declining health. No official cause of death has been announced by his office or family as of Wednesday.

Born in rural South Carolina in 1945, Scott built a long legacy of public service that culminated in a groundbreaking milestone in 2020, when he became the first Black lawmaker to chair the powerful House Agriculture Committee. He remained steadfast in his commitment to serving his constituents even amid health speculation, telling reporters in 2024 that he was “in good health, moving and doing the people’s work” and had no plans to retire. His final act in Congress came on Tuesday, when he voted in favor of a bipartisan bill advancing new hydropower infrastructure projects across the U.S.

Scott’s passing marks the fifth time a sitting member of Congress has died in office since last year, a string of vacancies that has upended the already fragile balance of power in the lower chamber. Before Scott’s death, Republicans held a razor-thin 218-213 majority in the House, with one independent legislator caucusing with the GOP. Following the vacancy created by Scott’s death, the new breakdown stands at 217 Republicans, 212 Democrats and one Republican-aligned independent, giving Republicans an even narrower working advantage as they fight to defend their slim majority in November’s upcoming midterm elections.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the top Democratic leader in the chamber, released a formal statement honoring Scott’s legacy on Wednesday. “David Scott was a trailblazer who served a district that he represented admirably, rose up from humble beginnings to become the first African American ever to chair the House Ag Committee,” Jeffries said. “He cared about the people that he represented. He was fiercely committed to getting things done for the people of the great state of Georgia, and he’ll be deeply missed.”

The four other sitting House members who have died since last year include three fellow Democrats: Sylvester Turner of Texas, Raúl Grijalva of Arizona and Gerry Connolly of Virginia. Republican Congressman Doug LaMalfa of California also passed away earlier in 2025.

Under Georgia state election law, Governor Brian Kemp is required to formally declare a special election to fill Scott’s vacant seat within 10 days of the vacancy. The special election must be held no fewer than 30 days after the governor’s declaration, setting up an early contest that could further reshape the House’s partisan balance ahead of November’s general election.