At roughly the same moment Donald Trump told reporters on Friday that he could "make a good deal" with Canada, provincial leaders across the country were still deciding whether to put American wine and spirits back on their shelves — a concession that, according to sources familiar with the negotiations, is the price Washington has set for reducing tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminium from 50% to 25%, and on Canadian automobiles from 25% to 15%. The leaked framework reveals the contours of a bargain weighted heavily toward Washington. Canada is said to be considering opening its closely protected dairy market to American producers and rolling back its own retaliatory tariffs on US goods. Prime Minister Mark Carney has been under competing pressures: businesses urgently want the uncertainty lifted, while several provincial leaders warn that accepting one-sided terms could accelerate the hollowing-out of Canadian industry.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew argued that Canada should fight rather than rush toward concessions, and Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette said she was still analysing what any dairy provisions would mean for farmers in her province before committing to restoring US alcohol sales. The disquiet runs deepest in Ontario's industrial heartland. Matthew Shoemaker, mayor of Sault Ste. Marie — home to Canada's second-largest steel producer — told the CBC that a deal leaving 25% tariffs on the sector would be nothing worth celebrating.

Conservative opposition leader Pierre Poilievre went further, warning of the "de-industrialisation" of the Canadian economy if key industries are forced to absorb tariffs that their American competitors are not.