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Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney stated on Thursday that trade negotiations with the United States had become “nasty” after President Donald Trump lashed out at his northern neighbor and the Canadian government, threatening to increase tariffs.
Carney noted that Canada remains part of the negotiations despite Trump’s comments, and described the talks as a fight to protect Canadian workers and companies.
“This is a complicated negotiation,” Carney said in French. “You could call it ‘nasty.’ But it is a question about the jobs of Canadians. It is a question about the future of Canadian companies.”
Trump criticized Canada during his speech on Wednesday in Las Vegas.
“Canada is nasty. They are. They’re nasty,” Trump emphasized. “I love their people, but they’re nasty. Nasty leadership.”
Carney commented that “we are in the middle of a tariff war with the Americans,” but laughed when asked about Trump’s comments. He indicated that Canadian negotiators were in Washington this week and that he had further talks planned with Trump after speaking with him last week.
The United States has already implemented tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminum, and automobiles. Trump has threatened import taxes of up to 50% on more Canadian products starting August 19.
Companies often pass the tariff increase to consumers in the form of higher prices. Trump claims that the costs created by the tariffs will force companies to move their labor to the United States, although there is little evidence of this in economic data.
Trump’s tariff threats and his repeated suggestions that Canada should become the 51st U.S. state have angered many Canadians, leading many of them to cancel their trips to the United States.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer has argued that Canada and China are the only two countries that have retaliated against Trump’s tariffs, and among his concerns, he mentioned restrictions on the sale of American alcohol in some Canadian provinces. Canadian officials state that their countermeasures were a response to existing U.S. tariffs.
Canada is one of the United States’ main trading partners, and the measure threatens to further increase prices at a time when Americans have already expressed frustration due to the high cost of living ahead of the November 3 legislative elections.
Carney indicated that existing U.S. tariffs on aluminum have contributed to a 58% increase in aluminum prices in the United States.
“It is not a good situation for American companies,” Carney expressed.
[Publicidad]