Ottawa stays focused on trade
Officials are working to move forward from slew of personal attacks
Chrystia Freeland remains hopeful that “common sense will triumph,”
OTTAWA — Shake it off and move forward.
That’s Ottawa’s game plan to deal with the bruising and personal attacks by U.S. President Donald Trump and his senior aides as Canadian officials vowed to stay focused on trade issues, a task made harder by the president’s continued criticism of Justin Trudeau.
Conservative House Leader Candice Bergen kicked off Question Period on Monday with a statement of support for the Canadian position, which was met with applause.
“Canadians witnessed, with shock and dismay, the U.S. administration hurl insults, verbal attacks, and threats of more tariffs at us. We are all Canadians first, and we will stand with Canadian workers and the families impacted by this escalating trade war,” she said.
Outside the House of Commons, Canadian officials were decidedly low key on the issue, keen to not further inflame the situation or respond in kind.
Despite the bitter acrimony from the U.S. side, the federal government intends to stick to its strategy so far, of reaching out to politicians across the U.S. and on Capitol Hill in Washington.
Canadian officials are buoyed by the voices of support they’ve heard since Trump and his advisers unleashed their weekend broadsides. They painted a picture of Canada-U.S. relations with interactions among officials that are described as extensive, at all levels and that were ongoing through the weekend and into Monday, despite the high-level spat.
Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland heads to Washington on Wednesday, where she will meet with the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.
And on Friday, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue will visit Prince Edward Island to discuss further co-operation in agriculture with Agri-Food Minister Lawrence MacAulay. That visit comes as Trump’s most recent critiques of Canada have put supply management in his crosshairs.
Canada’s immediate priorities are making progress on a new North American Free Trade Agreement, getting the U.S. to drop its tariffs on Canadian aluminum and steel and avoiding any fresh trade barriers, as Trump has threatened, said one official familiar with the Canada-U. S. file.
The comments came after an astonishing 24 hours of quickly souring relations between the White House and Ottawa. It started with Trump’s namecalling as he departed the summit Saturday, then escalated Sunday when two of his senior advisers launched a bitter attack on Trudeau in language rarely seen in international relations. The president had claimed to take offence at Trudeau’s comments at the conclusion of the summit, when the prime minister reiterated Canada’s commitment to impose retaliatory tariffs in response to Washington’s tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum.
“Very dishonest & weak,” Trump tweeted from Air Force One. Those comments were met with surprise by Canadian officials, who said there was nothing in Trudeau’s comments that he had not said previously. But the president kept at it as he continued en route to Singapore for his historic meeting with North Korean President Kim Jong Un.
“Fair Trade is now to be called Fool Trade if it is not Reciprocal. According to a Canada release, they make almost100 Billion Dollars in Trade with U.S. (guess they were bragging and got caught!). Minimum is 17B. Tax Dairy from us at 270%. Then Justin acts hurt when called out!” Trump tweeted.
“Sorry, we cannot let our friends, or enemies, take advantage of us on Trade anymore. We must put the American worker first!” Trump wrote.
Freeland said Sunday that she remains hopeful that “common sense will triumph.”
But the weekend tussle puts a question mark over negotiations for a new NAFTA deal, even as Trump threatens to impose tariffs on foreign automobiles and auto parts, which would deal a serious blow to the Canadian economy.
“It's threatening language, and if those threats are carried out they could have very serious consequences for Canada,” said Roland Paris, a University of Ottawa professor and former foreign affairs adviser to Trudeau. “But there's such an array of outrageous threats that (Trump) has made, and I think that's partly the point — to keep his negotiating partners off balance. This is his style,” Paris said.
Paul Frazer, a former Canadian diplomat who is now a Washington consultant, said Ottawa’s measured response to the comments from what he called Trump’s “henchmen” struck the necessary tone. “I like to think that the cool approach is a good way,” Frazer said.