Merve Aydogan
11 June 2026•Update: 11 June 2026
US envoy to Canada Pete Hoekstra urged Ottawa on Thursday to enter trade negotiations "aggressively" and make the case that Canada is America's best partner for filling its needs.
Hoekstra said at the 2026 US-Canada Summit in Toronto that the two countries share a record of generating prosperity and "boundless" opportunities for growth.
Asked about US President Donald Trump's remarks suggesting he was not seeking to renew the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), Hoekstra pushed back on the notion that Washington had nothing to gain from Canada, arguing Ottawa should lean into the opening.
"If Canada puts on their sales hat, they can make a very, very compelling case that if America needs a single car coming into the United States from somewhere else in the world, the best place to get that car from is Canada; similar labor forces, similar standards, working standards, environmental standards, pay scales and all of these types of things in a thoroughly integrated ecosystem," he said.
He made a similar argument on energy, saying Alberta was the best source if the US needed more oil, given the existing pipeline and infrastructure links.
Hoekstra urged Canada to interpret Trump's comments not as a rebuff but as an invitation, encouraging Ottawa to "go into these negotiations very aggressively and say, 'We know America has needs across the board.'"
"I think you, maybe, don't like the way the president says it, but take it in the tone of what he's saying is, 'We're open to offers, make your case,'" he added.
Pointing to tariffs the US imposed on Canada, he framed them as a defensive response to global "non-tariff trade barriers."
"The United States felt that we had to find a way to respond to what we believe was unfair competition," he said.
Canadian Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc acknowledged the uncertainty created by Trump's negotiating style but said Canada must focus on its long-term economic interests rather than react to political rhetoric.
"President Trump's style is not one to give eternal certainty. So again, our job is to accept that and do what we have to ensure that Canadian business and the Canadian economy navigate through that," he said.
LeBlanc urged Canadians not to take offense at how American leaders speak, and affirmed that the Canadian government's job is "to ensure that the long-term economic interest of Canada, which is inevitably tied to a successful trading relationship with the United States, is in the best possible position."
