Quebec premier meets top U.S. trade negotiator

Quebec’s premier met on Monday in Washington D.C. with Jamieson Greer, the top trade negotiator for President Donald Trump, as the U.S. becomes more aggressive in its demands toward Canada ahead of negotiations on the continental free-trade deal.

Greer, a former U.S. air force lawyer who was chief of staff to Trump’s first-term trade representative, Robert Lighthizer, has promised to pursue the president’s hardline trade policies.

Fréchette’s office didn’t release details of her meeting with Greer, but the premier told Radio-Canada their discussions were cordial but did not lead to any major breakthroughs.

Fréchette travelled to Washington for her first official foreign trip since she was sworn in as premier earlier this month. She held a roundtable discussion Monday morning with representatives of business associations including the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association and General Motors. And she was also scheduled to meet with congressional representatives. 

The United States is Quebec’s main trading partner, but since March 2025 U.S. tariffs have hit several of the province’s industrial sectors hard. Quebec’s aluminum and steel have been slapped with 50 per cent tariffs.

Her meeting with Greer comes ahead of negotiations between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico on the continental free-trade pact, scheduled to begin July 1. And it comes as the U.S. is trying to coax Canada’s aluminum and steel sectors to expand in the U.S. in order to enjoy tariff relief, according to an April 23 federal register notice by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

As well, a news report said the Americans are demanding concessions from Canada as a precondition for starting negotiations on the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement on trade, better known as CUSMA.

At a congressional committee hearing last week, Greer said it was a problem that Canada was looking to diversify its trading partners, notably with Europe.

“They’re doubling down on globalization when we’re trying to correct for the problems of globalization. So, those are two models that don’t fit together very well,” he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 27, 2026.

— With files from The Associated Press

By Patrice Bergeron | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.