Trump, Lopez Obrador meet without Trudeau
WASHINGTON
Donald Trump promised an absent Prime Minister Justin Trudeau some inperson presidential face time Wednesday as the U.S. commander-inchief and his Mexican counterpart went ahead celebrating North America’s new trade deal without Canada.
Trudeau last week declined to join Trump and Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador at the White House, citing the challenges of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and this week’s pressing parliamentary business – not to mention the looming threat of renewed U.S. tariffs against Canadian aluminum exports.
Trump offered no hint of any such tensions before he and Lopez Obrador signed a joint declaration of solidarity during an outdoor Rose Garden ceremony under a sweltering summer sun.
Instead, “we’ll have a separate day with Canada – they’re coming down at the appropriate time,” the president said, declaring the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, the “largest, fairest and most advanced” trade deal ever signed, and deriding its NAFTA predecessor as precisely the opposite.
“We want to thank Canada also; I spoke with and will be speaking to the prime minister in a little while,” Trump said. “We want to congratulate Canada, and the people of Canada, and the prime minister.”
Earlier Wednesday, Trudeau extended congratulations of his own, calling the agreement a win for all three countries at a time of serious economic uncertainty.
“I think it’s really important that at a time of economic strain and stress that we continue to have access to the world’s most important market. This is good for Canadian workers and Canadian jobs right across the country.”
The formal debut of the agreement, which took effect last week, has nonetheless been sullied by the U.S. trade representative’s claim that Canada has exceeded limits on aluminum exports to the United States established when
Trump lifted national-security tariffs on Canadian-made steel and aluminum in May 2019.
Trump made no mention of the latest dispute in his Rose Garden remarks, and neither leader took questions. Trudeau, however, said the threat of renewed tariffs “is a little bit difficult to understand,” given the potential impact of such a move.