Prime Minister of Canada
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has said he would agree to a fair deal on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which is currently being renegotiated with Canada and Mexico, or there would be no deal at all.
In a statement issued yesterday, he said the US had been taken advantage of for many decades on trade. Those days are over, he added.
“This message was conveyed to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada: The United State will agree to a fair deal, or there will be no deal at all,” the US President said.
Earlier in the day, the Canadian prime minister accused US Vice President Mike Pence for the collapse of the NAFTA negotiations. Pence, according to him, demanded that any deal would automatically expire in five years.
“I had to highlight that there was no possibility of any Canadian prime minister signing a NAFTA deal that included a five-year sunset clause, and obviously the visit didn’t happen,” Trudeau said.
According to The Washington Post, the tension between the two countries is likely to intensify in the coming days. Trump, Trudeau and several other world leaders are scheduled to meet next week in Canada at a Group of Seven meeting, the daily said. PTI
