Canada鈥檚 ambassador to the U.S. expects mounting pressure on American businesses will force White House officials to remove tariffs in 鈥渢he next few weeks.鈥�

David McNaughton made the comments to reporters on Thursday following a panel discussion with the Canadian American Business Council in Washington, D.C. He said Americans are starting to realize the U.S.-imposed tariffs are actually impacting their own bottom line more than anticipated.

鈥淲hen you look at the number of people in the United States who are talking about why these tariffs have to go, (everyone) from steel workers to businesses to governors to mayors to workers,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his is hurting Americans and I think there鈥檚 enough pressure building that I think we can find a resolution.鈥�

When asked for an expected timeline for the tariffs to be dropped, McNaughton replied: 鈥淚 think that we鈥檒l get there in the next few weeks.鈥�

During the USMCA negotiations, U.S. President Donald Trump imposed a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian and Mexican steel and a 10 per cent tariff on aluminum. The Canadian government retaliated with equal tariffs on a variety of U.S.-made goods.

Marc Garneau, Canada鈥檚 minister of transport, agreed with McNaughton in that the tariffs could be lifted shortly.

鈥淗opefully at some point in the near future, the United States will agree with us and drop those tariffs,鈥� he said.

Garneau added the USMCA deal can be officially ratified in Canada following 21 days of debate, which is scheduled to conclude on March 18. The federal Liberal government is set unveil their newest budget the next day.

鈥淲e believe that our strategy is actually working,鈥� said Garneau. 鈥淲e鈥檙e certainly not going to simply roll over and watch these tariffs.鈥�

Canada鈥檚 strategy to eliminate the tariffs has included arguing that the measures are against the law and actually hurt Americans.

鈥淪ometimes it takes a lot of audience to reach before the point gets through and we鈥檙e going to continue passing that same message, that it is actually having unintended consequences in the United States.鈥�

Gordon Giffin and Jim Blanchard, two former U.S. ambassadors to Canada, have said the deal cannot be ratified on Capitol Hill until the tariffs are lifted and believe the deal will face a stiff challenge in its current state as there are critics on both sides of the aisle.

With files from The Associated Press and The Canadian Press