President Trump said Wednesday he rejected a request for a one-on-one meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in New York, citing the country’s tariffs amid the ongoing dispute over renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement.
“His tariffs are too high and he doesn’t seem to want to move, and I told him forget about it,” Trump said of Trudeau’s request during a press conference in New York City.
The president specifically cited Canada’s tariffs on U.S. dairy products and said the country has treated American farmers in Wisconsin and New York “very badly.”
Trump also said there are disagreements between negotiators for the U.S. and Canada, and said his administration is “very unhappy” with the negotiations, as well as with the country’s negotiating style.
“I must be honest with you, we’re not getting along at all with their negotiators,” he said. “We think their negotiators have taken advantage of our country for a long time.”
Canada has been represented by Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland in recent talks.
Trudeau’s office said that “no meeting was requested” and declined to comment further, according to various Canadian news outlets.
Trump’s criticisms of Canada come just days before the U.S. hits a deadline to get its trade deal with Mexico approved by Congress in time to have it signed before the current Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, who negotiated the deal, steps down from office. Canada has been negotiating for almost a month to join the deal, but no progress has been reported.
The Trump administration has repeatedly said that Canada’s assent is not necessary and has formally submitted the deal to Congress, but nevertheless pursued an agreement with Canada to sooth lawmakers’ concerns over the deal’s impact on NAFTA.
Trump suggested in Wednesday’s conference that he had run out of patience with Canada and Trudeau and was leaning toward going ahead without Canada. He threatened, as he has before, simply to tax Canadian auto imports rather than accept the terms offered by Canadian negotiators.
The White House is under pressure to get the U.S.-Canada-Mexico deal done by the end of the month, the last day it can be approved under Congress’ Trade Promotion Authority law before Mexico’s incoming president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who did not negotiate the deal, takes office.
