Canada and the United States moved closer Wednesday to finalizing a trade agreement that would avert threatened 50% U.S. tariffs, with a senior Canadian official calling the emerging terms “a very good deal for Canada” while cautioning that negotiations were not complete.

Autos, dairy and alcohol are a few sticking points in relations between the two countries, while the two sides failed to clarify whether these will be resolved.

The announcement, which Trump made on his social media platform, buys time for more negotiations and avoids, for now, another strain in already tense relations between the…