U.S. treasury secretary meets cabinet ministers in Ottawa

ECONOMY

• U. S. President Donald Trump’s treasury secretary offered up some reassuring words Friday in Ottawa on the U. S.- Canada relationship.

In his first official visit, U. S. Treasury Secretar y Steve Mnuchin met with members of the Trudeau cabinet and took part in meetings with business leaders.

The agenda featured a number of cross- border topics including U. S. tax reform and trade issues surrounding sectors from lumber to dairy to energy.

Mnuchin, a former hedge fund manager, has now met with Canadian counterpart Finance Minister Bill Morneau five times since he was sworn in a few months ago. And with NAFTA talks on the horizon, more delicate discussions are surely ahead.

Trump has pledged to scrap the agreement if it can’t be renegotiated to his satisfaction.

After Friday’s meetings, Mnuchin sought to ease concerns, but said it was still premature to get into specifics about what Washington’s eventual asks might look like.

“I think whatever we do, our objective is to make sure that this is positive for the U. S. economy and positive for the Canadian economy to continue to allow the commerce that we have between us,” he told a news conference.