MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had constructive talks with US President Donald Trump on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) after the announcement of a new Mexican-US trade deal, the prime minister’s office said in a statement on Tuesday.
“The Prime Minister had a constructive conversation today with President Trump regarding the North American Free Trade Agreement. The leaders welcomed the progress that has been made in discussions with Mexico and look forward to having their teams engage this week with a view to a successful conclusion of negotiations,” the statement read.
On Monday, Trump told reporters that the United States and Mexico had reached a new trade agreement that will replace the current NAFTA pact.
US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer expressed hope on Monday that Canada will join the new trade agreement between the United States and Mexico.
Trump said his administration will begin trade talks with Canada immediately, but he also suggested that imposing tariffs on Canadian cars could be a better option.
Trump Announces Trade Deal With Mexico, Threatens Canada With Car Tariffs
“I think with Canada, frankly, the easier thing we can do is tariff their cars coming in, it’s a tremendous amount of money and it’s a very simple negotiation,” Trump said. “I think we’ll give them a chance to probably have a separate deal or perhaps we’ll put it in to this deal.”
Ottawa, Mexico City and Washington have been engaged in talks over the modernization of NAFTA for exactly a year at Trump’s initiative. Trump has threatened to withdraw the United States from NAFTA if a better agreement is not renegotiated. The agreement has been in place since 1994.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
