Trump says Canada may ‘just pay tariffs’ as trade talks stall
The US president’s statements come a day after Canadian officials held a series of meetings in Washington with Republican senators
“We haven’t really had a lot of luck with Canada,” Trump told reporters on Friday morning.
“I think Canada could be one where they’ll just pay tariffs, not really a negotiation,” he added. “We don’t have a deal with Canada. We haven’t been focused on that.”
The Canadian dollar had a muted reaction to the remarks, which were similar to previous comments by the president. The Canadian dollar was trading at C$1.3695 per US dollar as of 10.27am in New York.
The president’s statements come a day after Canadian officials held a series of meetings in Washington with Republican senators. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick also met on Wednesday night with Dominic LeBlanc, the Canadian minister in charge of US trade.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has also lowered expectations recently of reaching a deal with Trump by August 1, saying Canada won’t sign a bad agreement just to get one done.