Trump’s trade rep targets Online Streaming Act, Online News Act, raising questions about future of Canada’s cultural exemption

On Dec. 17, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Canadian cultural laws 'discriminate against U.S. tech and media firms.' But Canadian cultural groups insist both the Online Streaming Act and the government’s free-trade exemption are critical to supporting this country’s arts and media industries. Ahead of next year’s highly anticipated review of North America’s free trade deal, the Trump administration is now attacking two Canadian federal laws meant to protect domestic arts and media industries, and stakeholders in this country are wondering if the federal government will remain committed to protecting Canadian culture. On Dec. 17, United States President Donald Trump’s top trade representative appeared before a joint congressional committee to brief American officials on the White House’s approach to an upcoming review for the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), scheduled to begin in July 2026. During his testimony, Jamieson Greer said the agreement enjoyed “broad support” across sectors, though he identified several grievances with the current cross-border trading relationship between Canada and the U.S. In particular, Greer listed Canada’s longstanding use of supply management in the dairy sector, decisions from multiple premiers to remove American alcohol from liquor stores, as well as the impact of two pieces of Canadian federal legislation—the Online Streaming Act and Online News Act—on U.S.-based tech firms. “I don’t think we can say that USMCA is an unqualified success,” said Greer. “Canada insists on maintaining its Online Streaming Act, a law that discriminates against U.S. tech and media firms, as well as a number of other measures that restrict digital services trade.” Greer later said the “resolution” of these issues would be imperative for a successful renewal of CUSMA. “We have … had engagement with Canada towards addressing some of specific issues,” he continued, adding that he has been in communication with Canadian officials since April. Both the Online News Act and Online Streaming Act were introduced by then-prime minister Justin Trudeau’s government in 2022. The Online News Act was designed to ensure social media companies, like Facebook and Google, compensate news outlets for content that appears on their platforms, in the form of a fee for hosting hyperlinks to news websites. Eventually, Meta Platforms Inc., Facebook’s parent company, banned Canadian news from appearing on its platforms, while Alphabet Inc.'s Google reached an agreement to annually distribute $100-million among various news organizations through the Canadian Journalism Collective. Meanwhile, the Online Streaming Act, which sought to overhaul this country’s legislative framework for broadcasting, included new provisions tasking the national telecommunications regulator with ensuring international entities still “contribute to … Canadian resources in an equitable manner.” The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) announced last year that it would require online streaming services to allocate five per cent of annual Canadian revenues to the development of domestic news media or cultural programming. The law would apply to several U.S.-based tech companies, including Netflix, Spotify, and Amazon, which are currently challenging the CRTC’s decision at the Federal Court of Appeal. “The fund itself discriminatorily targets American streaming platforms, which already invest heavily in producing and supporting Canadian content and Canadian creators,” said Brad Wood, a senior director at the U.S. National Foreign Trade Council, in a statement. “As part of the broader bilateral negotiations, repeal of C-11 remains a priority.” In September, analysis conducted by the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), which counts Amazon, Apple, Google, and Meta among its members, found the policy could collectively cost U.S. companies up to $6-billion by the end of the decade. READ MORE: -- Canada’s retreat from digital services tax sparks questions over future of other online policies - ‘Culture is not on the table’ in trade talks amid film tariff threats & domestic digital policy uncertainty, says Guilbeault -- TV broadcasters denounce streamers’ appeals of CRTC’s broadcasting contribution decision -- Streamers challenge CRTC decision to publicly disclose financial information Right to retaliate? While U.S. government officials have protested the ruling, the Online Streaming Act and other culturally protectionist policies are exempted from Canada’s free trade obligations, due to a clause that has been negotiated and maintained through subsequent trilateral agreements. Under Sec. 32.6 of CUSMA, Canada retains the ability to override free-trade provisions related to books, audio or visual recordings, broadcasting, and other cultural media. The exemption was included in Canada’s first bilateral free-trade agreement with the U.S., reached in 1987, and it was preserved through the negotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement and CUSMA. However, during CUSMA negotiations, the U.S. and Mexico also negotiated a right to retaliate with measures of “equivalent commercial effect,” should Canada invoke its cultural exemption. “The Americans don’t like the cultural exemption and they never have,” said Jon Johnson, a senior fellow at the C.D. Howe Institute and former trade adviser in the federal government. “When you read , it’s pretty obvious that it’s something that neither party really wanted to agree to, but Canada insisted on the cultural exemption for a variety of historical reasons.” Then-Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto, left, U.S. President Donald Trump (in his first term as president), and then-prime minister Justin Trudeau signing the CUSMA on Nov. 30, 2018 (PMO photograph by Adam Scotti). Recently, American industry groups have suggested the U.S. administration utilize its right of retaliation, should Canada refuse to repeal the Online Streaming Act ahead of next year’s trade talks. “While USTR may recognize that Canada is entitled to invoke its cultural industries exception …, the United States is nonetheless explicitly entitled to take compensatory action of equivalent commercial value,” wrote the CCIA in a submission to the U.S. government in November. “This … step could be deemed necessary if Canada remains unconvinced of the negative impact of this measure and declines to remove or significantly alter it.” To exempt or not to exempt? Canadian cultural organizations insist both the Online Streaming Act and the government’s free-trade exemption are critical to supporting the country’s arts and media industries. “We trust that the government will continue to value the importance of having our own cultural policy,” said Marie-Julie Desrochers, executive director of the Coalition for the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, a Canadian advocacy group. “It’s really important to shape our identity and help better understand each other across the country.” “We think it will remain an important pillar.” Raj Shoan, interim executive director at Friends of Canadian Media, said in a statement to The Hill Times that the CUSMA exemption “protects Canadian cultural sovereignty by ensuring space for policies that promote Canadian stories, creators, and national identity in the face of dominant foreign, and, particularly, U.S. cultural markets.” However, other Canadian voices say they’re worried the Trump administration could use the option to retaliate as a pathway to legally justify sweeping tariffs on Canadian products. In an interview with The Hill Times, Michael Geist, a University of Ottawa professor and the Canada research chair in internet and e-commerce law, suggested the White House could use the Online Streaming Act as a legal excuse to implement levies on a variety of Canadian sectors, including agriculture and manufacturing. “The opens the door to U.S. retaliation …, and it would be quite legitimate,” said Geist. “These wouldn’t be Trump tariffs, they’d be tariffs, and they’d be tariffs that Canada agreed to.” “If Canada is insistent on a cultural exemption…, that’s the price,” Geist said. The U.S. Supreme Court is still considering its ruling on the legality of a suite of ‘reciprocal’ tariffs introduced by Trump earlier this year, in addition to the levies brought against Canada because of the Trump administration’s concerns over alleged cross-border fentanyl smuggling. Robert Wolfe, professor emeritus at Queen’s University’s School of Policy Studies, said Ottawa could acquiesce to the White House’s demands by repealing the Online Streaming Act and Online News Act, but said that does not guarantee Trump will scrap his tariffs. “It’s not that 32.6 leaves us vulnerable, it’s that certain U.S. companies do not like that approach,” said Wolfe. “Maybe it would be cloaked in 32.6, but I’m not sure would feel the need to go into the intricacies of the current agreement, if they wanted to bully us.” “I also think it would be politically dangerous in certain parts of the country to get rid of the cultural exemption. So, would that mean we have to give in to the U.S. bullying some other way? Maybe.” When asked whether the federal government would consider giving up its cultural exemption during next year’s CUSMA review, Gabriel Brunet, a spokesperson for Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc (Beauséjour, N.B.), said Ottawa would “refrain from commenting directly on our negotiations.” “Minister LeBlanc looks forward to further, productive discussions during the trilateral review of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) next year,” reads Brunet’s statement. dlegree@hilltimes.com This article has been cross-published with The Hill Times, a sister publication to The Wire Report.

Trump’s trade rep targets Online Streaming Act, Online News Act, raising questions about future of Canada’s cultural exemption

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By Davis Legree
|December 19, 2025

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Trump’s trade rep targets Online Streaming Act, Online News Act, raising questions about future of Canada’s cultural exemption

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