Donald Trump says he won’t be meeting Prime Minister Mark Carney for some time after a falling-out between the two countries over an Ontario government TV ad that criticized the U.S. President’s protectionist tariffs.
Mr. Trump broke off trade talks with Canada over the ad and later announced he would boost punitive tariffs on Canadian imports by another 10 per cent after it ran during the first World Series game.
Both Mr. Carney and Mr. Trump attended the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Malaysia this weekend but did not meet.
The U.S. President spoke to reporters en route to Japan Monday, where he was asked whether he intended to meet the Canadian leader at the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation Forum in South Korea this week.
“I don’t want to meet with him. I’m not going to be meeting with him for a long time,” Mr. Trump said.Video 2:23
U.S. President Donald Trump expressed confidence on Sunday over striking a trade agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping, whom he is expected to meet next week.
Reuters
Mr. Carney, speaking to reporters in Kuala Lumpur Monday, said he hasn’t spoken to Mr. Trump since the President on Thursday terminated trade negotiations.
The Prime Minister said Canada and the United States had made considerable progress in trade talks before these ended.
Canada has been negotiating with the United States for more than six months and has made concessions in the talks including scrapping a digital sales tax that would have hit U.S. tech giants and repealing retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods.
At a White House meeting with Mr. Carney earlier this month, Mr. Trump had even predicted Canada would be happy with the trade deal that resulted.
Carney says he will meet Chinese President Xi at APEC summit
Embattled at home, Trump eyes easy wins in Asia ahead of Xi meeting
Asked Monday how the relationship with the U.S. President eroded so quickly, and whether Mr. Trump is in fact toying with Canada, Mr. Carney said: “That’s a question for him.”
He said he remains ready to talk to Mr. Trump.
Mr. Carney said he has contingency plans if the United States refuses to resume negotiations but added he would not divulge them.
However, he said, part of the response is efforts in Europe as well as ASEAN, and later APEC, to shift trade away from the United States to more reliable partners. On Monday he signed a letter of intent with Malaysia to deepen investment in liquefied natural gas, oil, nuclear power and renewables. Mr. Carney said by the end of the decade Canada will be producing 50 million tonnes of LNG annually.
Plus, he said, the Nov. 4 federal budget will contain “generational investments” to build the Canadian economy and make it more resilient.Video 2:13
APEC has laid the groundwork for a more connected global economy and led to the establishment of regional and inter-regional trade agreements. But analysts say geopolitical tensions threaten the bloc and its long term agenda.
Reuters
Mr. Carney said the Americans have an incentive to strike a trade deal with Canada because it would be inefficient to replace Canadian imports. He said Canada supplies about 60 per cent of U.S. aluminum needs – an energy-intensive metal to produce – and it would be costly for the United States to replicate this. It would require the power of 10 Hoover dams in the United States at a time when U.S. firms need increasing amounts of energy for artificial intelligence processing.
On Thursday, citing the TV ad, the President terminated trade talks with Canada – negotiations Mr. Carney has been hoping would reduce a slew of protectionist tariffs imposed on Canadian goods since Mr. Trump took office.
Explainer: What you need to know about Ontario’s anti-tariff ad
On Saturday, Mr. Trump said he was hiking tariffs on Canadian imports by another 10 per cent after the TV ad critical of his protectionist levies ran during the first game of the World Series.
The 60-second spot uses footage from nearly 40 years ago of former U.S. president Ronald Reagan decrying American protectionism, saying such trade barriers hurt every American worker and consumer.Video 1:00
The Government of Ontario released this TV ad which will be broadcast in the U.S. that uses a recording of Ronald Reagan to argue against tariffs.
Government of Ontario
Mr. Trump, who has said the Ontario ad misrepresents Mr. Reagan’s comments, said he was raising tariffs by 10 per cent because Canada did not immediately stop running the ad, as he wanted.
The President has not yet issued any executive order to enforce the threatened 10-per-cent hike. It’s not clear if this new levy would apply to all Canadian imports or a selection of them. And he has announced no date for this increase.
Speaking to reporters Monday, Mr. Trump couldn’t say when the extra 10-per-cent tariff would take effect.
“I don’t know when it’s going to kick in. We’ll see,” the President said.
Carney tries to reassure Canadians after Trump threatens 10% tariff hike
After Mr. Trump said he would terminate trade talks, Ontario Premier Doug Ford, whose government paid for the ad campaign, said he would pull the ad after this weekend.
The ad is much shorter than Mr. Reagan’s original address. It is edited, with certain passages presented out of order.
In Mr. Reagan’s original speech, the former president defended imposing duties on Japan during a trade dispute over semiconductors. He alleged Tokyo was failing to penalize Japanese companies’ violations of a trade agreement with the U.S.
With reports from Laura Stone
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