Carney says Canada-US trade teams to work on deal in coming weeks

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Sunday that he and US President Donald Trump had a "good conversation" on trade and that negotiating teams would work in the coming weeks to reach a deal, days before US midterm elections in which affordability is a central issue.

Carney said in a social media post that the latest talks built on "recent constructive discussions on the outlines of a mutually beneficial trade deal". "Our teams will now be working in the coming weeks to deliver that outcome," he said, according to CNA.

Trump confirmed the contact. Speaking to reporters before a campaign event in Iowa, he said officials had "the concept of a very good deal with Canada". "We have the concept of a deal that's going to be great for our farmers, great for our country, and it'll be fine for Canada, too," Trump said.

The US president said the deal would include construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, a project environmental campaigners have long opposed and which was shelved under his predecessor, Joe Biden.

Neither government published the terms of a proposed agreement or a timetable beyond Carney's reference to the coming weeks.

The two countries' trade relationship has been unsettled since high-level talks broke down in August. Washington then imposed tariffs on about US$20 billion worth of Canadian goods, ranging from hockey sticks to cement, CNA reported. Canada levied matching duties on the same value of American products, and Trump answered with another round of tariffs of as much as 50 per cent on certain goods. Some US measures have since been lifted ahead of the midterms.

Trump said last week that he expected a new agreement with Canada "pretty soon" but gave no details.

Affordability is a key issue for voters, and the US tariffs have fuelled inflation across the country, CNA reported. Al Jazeera reported that Carney was signalling progress on the talks as the midterms loom.

Carney has moved to widen Canada's trading relationships while the dispute with Washington runs. On Friday, the European Union and Canada announced an alliance that would make Ottawa the bloc's first "associate member", CNA reported, although the term drew some disagreement inside the EU.