U.S. President Donald Trump said his administration is not prioritising negotiations on a new trade accord with Canada and may instead allow existing import levies to remain in force. Speaking to reporters before departing Washington on Friday, Trump stated, “We haven’t really had a lot of luck with Canada. I think Canada could be one where there’s just a tariff, not really a negotiation.” Washington has set a 1 August deadline to conclude talks or impose a 35% tariff on Canadian goods not already covered by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Canadian officials, led by Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc, have been in Washington this week for closed-door talks and say progress has been made but a final deal remains unlikely before the deadline. Trump contrasted the stalled discussions with Canada to what he described as progress with the European Union, China and Australia, and signalled the White House is prepared to proceed unilaterally if Ottawa does not accept U.S. terms. Canada is already subject to U.S. duties on steel, aluminium and automobiles, and faces new copper tariffs that are also scheduled to take effect on 1 August.