Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday dismissed U.S. President Donald Trump's criticism of the slow pace of talks to modernize the North American Free Trade Agreement, saying Canadians were tough negotiators.
Malmstrom reacted strongly to the suggestion that the USA administration is attempting to bully Freeland after Trump criticized Canadian NAFTA negotiators in a press conference Wednesday. "That's the big one".
President Trump said Wednesday he was planning to impose severe economic penalties against Canada if it does not agree to major changes in its trade policies.
"We're very unhappy with the negotiations and the negotiating style of Canada". He has repeatedly said he is ready to walk away from the talks rather than sign a document he thinks is bad.
The United States has imposed a September 30 deadline for Canada to agree to the text of a new NAFTA.
The Canadian leader added existing U.S. tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminium, which were implemented in late May, would have to be scrapped before Canada felt confident in signing a new NAFTA agreement.
Trudeau's "tariffs are too high, and he doesn't seem to want to move, and I've told him forget about it, and frankly, we're thinking about just taxing cars coming in from Canada", Trump said.
Trump had already left Charlevoix and Trudeau was giving a seemingly benign defence of Canadian interests at a post-summit news conference when the president suddenly erupted into a bitter Twitter tirade from the confines of an airborne Air Force One.
More news: Amazon Echo event: Here's what to expectUS lawmakers at the Lighthizer meeting cited him as saying the earliest they would be able to consider a deal with Mexico, even a bilateral agreement, would probably be next February or March.
US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has noted that there remains "some distance" between the US and Canada, specifically on how to settle trade disputes in the future, and about US access to the Canadian dairy market.
And then, for good measure: "We don't like their representative very much". "How do you sell a dairy product at 300 percent?" I never liked it.
Canada, which sends 75 percent of its goods exports to the United States, is vulnerable.
At 4.09pm local time (9.09pm BST), the Canadian dollar was trading 0.5 percent lower against the U.S. dollar at 1.3018, or 76.82 USA cents. It's been great for Canada.
The White House reached a deal last month with Mexico and informed Congress of the intention to sign a new agreement by the end of November, before the new President takes office in Mexico.
A spokesperson for Trudeau, however, said this was not true and that Trudeau never sought a meeting with Trump during the NY gathering. "But it will probably or possibly be just USM", he said suggesting it will likely only include the US and Mexico.
