The National Post reports in its Saturday, Jan. 10, edition that Dominic Leblanc, the federal minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade, will meet with U.S. counterparts in mid-January to launch formal talks. A Postmedia dispatch to the Post reports that in a year-end interview with Brunswick News, Mr. Leblanc said it is now unlikely sectoral trade deals will be reached with the Americans to lower tariffs on steel, aluminum and lumber ahead of the larger review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement. ... If you just look at the schedule, if the CUSMA review process will begin in the new year it's obvious that those lines are going to intersect now in January. It's not clear that, in the very short term, there are going to be sectoral deals." Talks have been at a standstill since October, after U.S. President Donald Trump paused them in response to Ontario Premier Doug Ford's anti-tariff ads.