OTTAWA, Feb 26 (Reuters) - The Canadian minister responsible for Canada-United ‌States trade said on Thursday ‌that private government-to-government conversations between the United ​States, Mexico and Canada on a forthcoming review of the USMCA trade pact were not discouraging.

Canada is preparing ‌to start ⁠formal trade talks with the U.S. as part of ⁠the scheduled review of the deal which needs to be completed ​by July ​1, 2026.

President ​Donald Trump has ‌said the United States could leave the USMCA and strike separate deals with Canada and Mexico instead.

"There is a public prosecution of ‌the argument, the ​political argument in the ​United ​States. And there are the ‌private government to government ​to ​government conversations which are not discouraging," federal minister Dominic LeBlanc told ​a ‌Toronto business audience.

(Reporting by Promit ​Mukherjee; Editing by David Ljunggren ​and Nia Williams)