U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra participates in an interview at the United States Embassy in Ottawa on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

By The Canadian Press

Ambassador tells Canada to don ‘sales hat’ after Trump questions future of trade pact

Jun 11, 2026 | 8:47 AM

WASHINGTON — The United States’ top diplomat in Canada says that when U.S. President Donald Trump says the U.S. doesn’t need anything from its northern neighbour, he’s actually looking for ways to collaborate.

“When the president says we don’t need this from Canada, or there’s nothing we need, America has a tremendous amount of things where we have a need,” U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra said at the U.S.-Canada Summit in Toronto Thursday.

Ottawa should put on its “sales hat” and make the case that it’s better for the United States to work with Canada, Hoekstra said.

His comments come after Trump said Wednesday he is “not looking to renew” the Canada-U.S.-Mexico-Agreement on trade, known as CUSMA, ahead of a July 1 deadline.

“We don’t need anything that Canada has, we don’t need anything that Mexico has, but they need everything that we have,” Trump said, pointing to cars, lumber and energy. “And they should have to treat us better.”

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Canada and Mexico have both called for a 16-year extension of CUSMA. If the Trump administration blows past the July deadline, the trade pact stays in place subject to an annual rolling review for up to 10 years.

While the president could also give six months’ notice that the United States is pulling out of the agreement, comments from members of the Trump administration, including Hoekstra, indicate that’s not likely to happen immediately.

Hoekstra said Canadians may not like the way Trump says things but Canada has an opportunity to go into the negotiations “very aggressively and say, ‘We know America has needs across the board and we’re here to partner with America and fill those needs because we are the best place for America to fill these needs.'”

Pointing to Canadian potash, Hoekstra said there aren’t a lot of other places the United States can get the key ingredient for fertilizer. More than 80 per cent of the United States’ potash imports come from Canada; the alternative global suppliers are Russia and Belarus.

Hoekstra said it’s also more desirable for the United States to get resources like oil from Alberta and automobiles from Ontario.

He said the U.S. can get automobiles from other countries but Ottawa makes a compelling case that “the best place to get that car from is Canada” because of similar labour forces, work and environmental standards, similar pay scales and a long-standing integrated industry.

“Make us an offer,” Hoekstra said.

CUSMA was negotiated during the first Trump administration to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement but the president has since called it “irrelevant.”

The trade agreement has shielded Canada and Mexico from many of Trump’s tariffs. The current 10 per cent global tariff does not apply to goods that are compliant under CUSMA.

Canada and Mexico are still being slammed by Trump’s separate tariffs on sectors like steel, aluminum and automobiles.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 11, 2026.

Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press