Photo credit: The New York Times
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday that trade negotiations with the United States had turned “nasty” after President Donald Trump derided America’s neighbour and its leadership while threatening to expand tariffs.
AP reports Carney as saying Canada remained engaged in the negotiations despite Trump’s comments, describing the talks as a fight to protect Canadian workers and businesses.
“This is a tough negotiation, Carney said. “You can say ‘nasty.’ But this is a question of Canadian jobs. It’s a question of the future of Canadian businesses.”
Trump criticized Canada during a speech on Wednesday in Las Vegas.
“Canada’s nasty. They are. They’re nasty,” Teump said. “I love people, but they’re nasty. Nasty leadership.”
Carney said, “we are in the middle of a tariff war with Americans” but laughed when asked about Trump’s description. He said Canadian negotiators were in Washington this week and that he expected further conversations with Trump after speaking with him last week.
The United States already has tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminium, and automobiles. Trump has threatened to impose 50% tariffs on more Canadian goods beginning on August 19.
GTariffs are taxes on imports, which companies can then pass to consumers in the form of higher prices. The president maintains that the costs created by tariffs will cause manufacturing to relocate to the US, though there is little evidence of that in the economic data.
