Canada 'should fight' as US trade deadline looms, Manitoba premier says

Canada-US trade minister Dominic LeBlanc said negotiators "have more work to do" as he left a meeting with US counterparts ahead of a midnight deadline to finalise a tentative trade deal with the Trump administration.

"We're going to continue working up until the last minute," he told reporters in Washington on Friday evening. "Our job is not finished."

Negotiators have until Friday night to hammer out the details of the deal or risk a fresh wave of additional US tariffs on a wide range of Canadian goods.

LeBlanc spent some eight hours in meetings with US trade representative Jamieson Greer and other negotiators - one of the longest sessions so far as talks go down to the wire.

Hours before the deadline, President Donald Trump did not say whether a definitive deal had been agreed, but that it was "moving along".

"We should be able to have a deal with Canada. We're also starting on a new deal with Mexico. A much better deal for the United States. I only make good deals," he told reporters on Friday.

The full framework of the deal has yet to be made public, but details leaked to several media outlets suggest the US will agree to reduce tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminium from 50% to 25%, and tariffs on Canadian automobiles from 25% to 15%.

In addition to restoring the sale of American alcohol, Canada is said to be considering allowing American dairy producers greater access to its market and removing its retaliatory tariffs on the US.

Conservative opposition leader Pierre Poilievre said that any agreement that includes "one-sided" tariffs on Canadian industry is "a bad deal".

"I am concerned with the de-industrialisation of our economy if our key industries pay one-sided tariffs," Poilievre told reporters on Friday.

One of Canada's provincial leaders has criticised a prospective trade deal with the US and pushed his country to hold out for favourable terms, showing Prime Minister Mark Carney faces a tough battle in getting buy-in on the agreement hours away from a US-set deadline.

Still, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said Canada "should fight" and not rush to make concessions.

Carney needs Kinew and other premiers to restore sales of US alcohol on liquor store shelves, so that the US will reportedly agree to reduce some of its tariffs on Canadian metals and autos.

Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette, whose province is home to a large dairy industry, said on Thursday that she was analysing what the deal will mean for Quebec farmers before deciding on whether to restore US alcohol sales.