Trump: Canada ‘will be out’ of Nafta trade deal unless it’s ‘fair’
Congress may refuse to endorse any deal that excludes Canada, but the US president warns against ‘interference’
US President Donald Trump warned Canada on Saturday that it “will be out” of a revised North American trade agreement unless it’s “fair” to the United States, and he threatened to scrap the current deal should Congress “interfere” with the negotiations.
“There is no political necessity to keep Canada in the new Nafta deal,” Trump said in one of a series of tweets as he visited his Virginia golf club while three former presidents and a range of political dignitaries attended a Washington memorial for the late Senator John McCain. Trump was not invited.
But it is not clear whether the Trump administration has the authority to strike a deal with just Mexico, as it announced on Monday, and exclude Canada.
Also, Congress must approve any rewrite of the North American Free Trade Agreement, signed during under President Bill Clinton, and might refuse to endorse a deal that leaves long-time ally Canada on the sidelines.
Talks to keep Canada in the trade bloc are to resume this coming week as Washington and Ottawa try to break a deadlock over issues such as Canada’s dairy market and US efforts to shield drug companies from generic competition.
