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OTTAWA — U.S. Ambassador to Canada David Cohen warns that Canada should be “very careful” before declaring items banned in future trade talks, as both countries prepare for a second Donald Trump presidency.

Cohen’s comments were part of a pre-election interview Tuesday and were made before a Senate committee studying a private member’s bill from Bloc Québécois, seeking to protect sectors subject to supply management from future negotiations, adopted an amendment aimed at mitigating its effects, for fear of its impact on trade negotiations.

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Trump won Tuesday’s election and will be inaugurated in January 2025.

The first Trump presidency triggered a renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement and years of heated conflicts over tariffs, asylum seekers and defense spending. This time, Trump also promised 10% overall tariffs on imports to the United States.

“I think it’s appropriate for Canada to be very careful in drawing lines in saying, ‘Well, we’re not going to talk about ‘x,’ we’re not going to talk about ‘y,'” he said. Cohen. , when asked how the passage of the bill would be perceived.

“Because if it’s something that’s important to the United States and Canada puts itself in a position to not talk about it, I think it would be safe to say that it wouldn’t be well received.”

The renegotiated free trade agreement between Canada, the United States and Mexico is expected to be subject to a first review in 2026.

The Bloc’s private member’s bill gained support from the ruling Liberals in the House of Commons last year, as well as the NDP and Greens. Conservative MPs were divided on the proposal.

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As proposed, the bill seeks to amend the law to prevent supply-managed egg, poultry and dairy sectors from being subject to international trade concessions, by providing them with protections additional.

On Wednesday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee amended the bill so that it would not apply to existing agreements, agreements being renegotiated, or those currently under negotiation. All senators must now debate the amended bill before it returns to the House.

“We passed the bill with an amendment that, in my opinion, deprives the bill of any practical impact,” said Senator Marc Gold, the government representative in the Upper House, who opposed it. Before the vote, he said the change would “fundamentally negate” his intention to better protect supply management, rendering it “useless.”

“Canada has 37 free trade agreements that are in force, under negotiation or in exploratory discussions. These cover practically the entire economy. Amending this bill as proposed would ensure that this bill has no real material impact.

He added that Canada was also unlikely to enter into new agreements with countries interested in its supply management sectors.

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Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet had made the adoption of the bill one of the conditions for continuing to support the Liberals in the minority Parliament, but with this deadline having now passed, Blanchet said he was ready to work with other parties to try to bring down the government.

The Minister of International Trade, Mary Ng, had asked the Senate to accelerate the study of the bill, with Senator Peter Boehm, who chairs the committee studying the bill, responded by saying the Upper House would conduct its work at its own pace.

Boehm, a former diplomat who held several senior positions in foreign affairs, expressed concerns about the bill, saying he did not believe it would be in Canada’s best interests. “national interest” to adopt it, given the impact it could have on future trade negotiations and on the division within the Canadian agricultural sector, between those who are protected by supply management and those who are not not.

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Other senators had expressed similar concerns and cattle producers are part of the worried groups. TThe Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance warned that the bill would harm an estimated 90 percent of farmers who rely on the trade, saying it seeks to prioritize the economic interests of one sector over another.

On Tuesday, Cohen said he would not comment on details because the bill has not yet been passed.

However, he said the roughly $3.4 billion worth of trade that flows daily between the United States and Canada was built through thoughtful discussions, not closing doors. one side.

“If this is important enough to the United States, then the United States has no other choice,” Cohen said.

“Instead of negotiating and resolving any issues we may have, we need to take a more contentious stance and that is not how we built this massive, consequential $3.4 billion a day trading relationship … if on the one hand we say ‘we’re not going to talk about ‘x’, that’s completely incoherent.”

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