Canadian, U.S. top trade officials meeting today in Washington

Canadian, U.S. top trade officials meeting today in Washington

2nd time Canadian negotiators have met with Trump's trade envoy in as many weeks

Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Canada's chief trade negotiator Janice Charette will be meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump's top trade envoy in Washington on Thursday.

This is the second time LeBlanc and Charette have sat down with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in as many weeks. It comes after Prime Minister Mark Carney said trade talks would "intensify" after Trump threatened fresh tariffs on hundreds of Canadian imports starting Aug. 19.

Carney said on Wednesday that negotiators are focusing talks with their U.S. counterparts on "all strategic sectors," including autos, as that new deadline approaches.

"We have time, and we have real constructive negotiations that are happening on a number of issues," Carney said.

Last month, Carney said he'd spoken with Trump and the two leaders agreed to ramp up trade discussions.

Former Quebec premier Jean Charest, who serves on Carney's Advisory Committee on Canada-U.S. Economic Relations, shed light on that phone call in an interview with CBC's Power & Politics, saying it resulted in wider engagement from the U.S. administration in the latest round of talks.

"It's a good sign that the whole of the administration is more engaged in these negotiations than they were before that phone call," he told guest host Katie Simpson.

Darren Major is a senior writer for CBC's parliamentary bureau in Ottawa. He previously worked as a digital reporter for CBC Ottawa and a producer for CBC's Power & Politics. He holds a master's degree in journalism and a bachelor's degree in public affairs and policy management, both from Carleton University. He also holds a master's degree in arts from Queen's University. He can be reached at darren.major@cbc.ca.