Carney Launches Canada-US Economic Advisory Committee as Tariff Pressure Mounts

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on April 21 the creation of a new Advisory Committee on Canada-US Economic Relations, a body intended to give Ottawa structured, ongoing input from business, labour and policy experts as it navigates the most turbulent trade relationship with Washington in a generation. The committee will hold its first meeting on April 27 and is expected to feed directly into the federal team negotiating with the Trump administration on tariffs and the upcoming review of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement.

The announcement comes during a week in which Carney has sharply escalated his rhetoric toward the White House, telling reporters in Ottawa that Canada's deep economic ties to the United States have become a "weakness" rather than a strength. "Hope isn't a plan and nostalgia is not a strategy," the Prime Minister said in a speech reported by multiple outlets, framing the committee as a structural response to a permanently changed continental economy.

What the committee will do

According to the readout from the Prime Minister's Office, the committee is designed as a forum for expertise and strategy on every dimension of the Canada-US relationship: tariffs, supply chains, energy, critical minerals, defence procurement, financial integration and labour mobility. Its members will advise the federal cabinet, but the committee itself will not have decision-making authority.

Carney has framed the body as a way to give the public service and elected officials access to private-sector intelligence in real time, rather than relying on intermittent consultations. The first meeting on April 27 is expected to focus on the most acute pressure points: the 50 per cent steel and aluminum tariffs, the 25 per cent auto tariff and the broad set of forest-product duties that Carney has publicly described as his top "irritants."

The Prime Minister said his government wants the committee to help develop a long-term diversification strategy, including building out non-US export markets, deepening internal trade between provinces and accelerating defence and clean-energy industrial capacity at home.

The trade backdrop

The committee's launch lands at a moment when Canadian industry is absorbing the most serious tariff regime imposed by Washington in decades. Steel and aluminum imports into the United States face a 50 per cent duty under the Trump administration's expanded Section 232 measures, automobiles face 25 per cent, and a wide range of forest products are also covered. Goods qualifying under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement remain exempt for now, but that exemption is itself a flashpoint, with a formal review of the agreement scheduled for July.

On April 24, the United States offered immediate tariff relief to Canadian aluminum and steel companies that commit to expanding production in the United States, an offer that Ottawa has so far publicly resisted. Carney has argued that responding to Washington's demands by relocating Canadian capacity to the United States would simply ratify the use of tariffs as a long-term tool of economic coercion.

General Motors disclosed earlier this month that it expects between three and four billion US dollars in tariff costs in 2026, a figure that underscores how disruptive the new duties are even for the largest integrated North American manufacturers. Canadian auto-parts suppliers in southern Ontario have warned of layoffs and shift reductions if the tariffs persist into the summer.

Reaction in Ottawa and the provinces

The announcement has drawn cautious praise from business groups including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the Business Council of Canada and the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, all of which have lobbied for a more formal channel into federal trade strategy. Labour leaders have asked for explicit representation on the committee, particularly from the unions covering steel, auto and forestry workers most exposed to the tariffs.

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre's office responded by demanding more transparency about the committee's membership and mandate, arguing that the federal response so far has been long on symbolism and short on results for affected workers. The New Democratic Party, which lost ground in the April 13 federal election, called for the committee to include front-line worker representatives and not just chief executives.

Provincial premiers have also weighed in. Ontario Premier Doug Ford, whose province carries the heaviest exposure to the auto tariff, said he wants the federal committee to coordinate closely with the provinces. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith linked the committee's launch to her continuing energy and pipeline negotiations with Ottawa, arguing that any response to US tariffs must include faster build-out of Canadian export infrastructure.

What it means for Canadians

The committee itself will not change tariffs overnight. What it can do, federal officials say, is shorten the cycle between economic intelligence and policy response. Workers in steel towns like Hamilton and Sault Ste. Marie, in aluminum communities along the Saguenay and in the auto corridor between Windsor and Oshawa have lived for months with the uncertainty of partial exemptions, sudden expansions of the tariff list and the constant threat of further escalation.

Carney has tied the committee to a broader policy agenda announced earlier this month: a temporary suspension of the federal fuel excise tax through September 7, accelerated housing construction supports and the Defence Industrial Strategy that the Prime Minister launched in February. Together, these initiatives are intended to cushion households and firms while the structural shift away from US dependence plays out.

Economists at the major Canadian banks have warned that the cumulative impact of the tariffs could shave between half a percentage point and a full percentage point off Canadian gross domestic product in 2026 if no off-ramp is found. Inflation has already moved higher, with March's headline rate climbing to 2.4 per cent, partly because of energy prices linked to the war in Iran.

The road to the USMCA review

The most consequential moment for the committee will likely be the formal CUSMA review scheduled for July. That review, mandated under the agreement itself, gives all three signatories the opportunity to flag changes they want, including whether to extend the deal beyond its current sunset clause.

Carney has said publicly that talks with the Trump administration will "take some time" and that Canada will not allow Washington to dictate the terms. He has pointed to the federal majority he secured on April 13 as a mandate to take a tougher line, including by maintaining Canadian counter-tariffs on selected American goods and a broader "buy Canadian" posture in federal procurement.

The new committee is likely to play a central role in helping Ottawa decide how aggressively to respond to any further US escalation, and how to package any eventual agreement to a domestic audience that has soured on the United States as a reliable economic partner.

What's next

The committee's first meeting on April 27 will be followed within days by the Bank of Canada's interest rate decision on April 29, where Governor Tiff Macklem will publish a fresh Monetary Policy Report that is expected to grapple directly with the inflationary impact of the tariffs and energy shock. The Prime Minister has indicated he will provide an update on tariff negotiations after the spring sitting of the House of Commons resumes its full schedule next week.

Federal officials have said the committee's membership will be made public before its first meeting, with sectoral working groups expected to be added in the weeks that follow. For Canadian businesses and workers caught in the crosshairs, the committee represents the most concrete sign yet that the Carney government intends to treat the tariff crisis as a long-term challenge rather than a passing storm.