CANADA – According to a Canadian minister, the US-Canada trade talks were “successful” although no deal was reached on aluminum and steel tariffs.

“We concluded what I think was a successful, positive, substantive conversation with President Trump on trade issues,” Dominic LeBlanc, the minister responsible for Canada-US trade, told reporters in Washington, DC.

Noting that the focus of the meeting between Canadian government officials and members of the Trump administration “was on the trading relationship,” he said: “The conversation, as I said, was more detailed than previous discussions.”

LeBlanc said the meeting particularly focused on sectors most affected by tariffs imposed under Section 232 of US trade law, adding that “the principal areas would be steel and aluminum and energy.”

“These sectors are amongst the ones that have faced the most significant challenges from the Section 232 tariffs,” he noted.

He said both sides discussed “ways to quickly arrive at a deal that will bring, we hope, a better circumstance to both countries in these sectors of significant importance.”

LeBlanc added that Trump “acknowledged, in a very positive way, the work that Canada and the US have been doing to advance our security and economic relationship.”

Despite no agreement being finalized, LeBlanc said he was encouraged by the tone and depth of the discussions.

“I remain optimistic, and I’m more optimistic today after those discussions at the White House than I was when we arrived in Washington yesterday,” he said.

Asked about the shortage of steel tariff relief, LeBlanc replied: “We don’t have an expectation of a detailed deal today.”

“We hope to find the president and his Cabinet secretaries fully engaged in finding solutions on priority sectors quickly – steel, aluminum and energy,” he said, adding they further talked about “strengthening the energy partnership” between Canada and the US.