US-Canada relationship ‘never stronger’ says Mike Pence, but Canadians aren’t so sure
- US Vice-President meets with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to boost trade deal
- Undermined by President Donald Trump tweet on his way home from Ottawa
US Vice-President Mike Pence called President Donald Trump a “great friend of the Canadian people” and said the US-Canada relationship had “never been stronger” on Thursday, less than a year after Trump assailed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in unprecedented attacks on America’s long-time ally.
Pence was in Ottawa hoping to build momentum to pass a new trade deal with Canada and Mexico. But, after he left to return to Washington, Trump tweeted that he was slapping a 5 per cent tariff on all Mexican imports to pressure the country to do more to crack down on the surge of Central American migrants trying to cross the border.
The move could put the trade deal in jeopardy.
Trump recently removed US steel and aluminium tariffs on Canada and Mexico, clearing a roadblock to the North American trade deal that his team negotiated last year. The trade penalties were a sore point in relations that reached a low last summer when Trump called Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “weak” and “dishonest” after the Canadian-hosted Group of Seven summit of major industrial nations.
“President Trump and I believe the relationship between the United States and Canada has never been stronger and that is a reflection of his leadership and your leadership,” Pence told Trudeau.
