Prime Minister Mark Carney is scrambling to save his country's relationship with Mexico after it disintegrated late last year when Canadian officials suggested they'd be better off negotiating a trade deal with the Trump administration alone.

"There's a historic reluctance by Canada to engage seriously with Mexico," said Carleton University professor Laura Macdonald. "And there's a tendency for them to fail when they try to work together."

While the United States’ largest trading partner now has more time to reach a trade deal, its second-largest saw its tariff rate increase on Thursday.