Canada threatens to scrap US fighter jet deal as Nafta talks get off to rough start
Trump signals ‘a tough negotiation’ over Nafta - a quarter-century-year-old trade pact that also includes Mexico
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau threatened to cancel a major arms buy from the US over a tariffs row, as talks on a North American free trade deal got off to a rocky start.
Ottawa was set to purchase 18 new F/A-18 Super Hornets fighter jets from Boeing until the American aerospace firm successfully petitioned the Trump administration to impose anti-dumping penalties on its Canadian rival Bombardier over planes sold in the US market.
“I highlighted to the president how we disagreed, vehemently, with Commerce’s decision to bring in countervailing and anti-dumping duties against Bombardier,” Trudeau told reporters Wednesday after talks with US President Donald Trump.
Further, “attempts by Boeing to put tens of thousands of aerospace workers out of work across Canada is not something we look on positively. And I certainly mentioned that this was a block to us purchasing any - making any military procurements from Boeing.”
His comments came after Trump had previewed “a tough negotiation” over Nafta - a quarter-century-year-old trade pact that also includes Mexico.
