President Trump told Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Monday that new U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum make it more urgent to conclude renegotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
The White House said Mr. Trump and Mr. Trudeau spoke by phone about the tariffs announced by the president last week. Mr. Trump has exempted Canada and Mexico from the tariffs while NAFTA is being renegotiated.
Mr. Trump told the prime minister that wrapping up a new NAFTA deal is important to “ensure the vitality of United States and North American manufacturing industries and to protect the economic and national security of the United States. “
Mr. Trudeau said on CNBC Monday that Canada’s exemption from the tariffs have nothing to do with NAFTA talks.
“We don’t link together the tariffs and the negotiations for NAFTA, but we’re happy to continue to move forward on the negotiations,” he said in an interview on “Power Lunch.”
He also said the tariffs on Canada would hurt the U.S. almost as much.
“Millions of jobs on both sides of the border depend on continued smooth flow of trades,” Mr. Trudeau said.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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