U.S. President Donald Trump says he rejected a one-on-one meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau because heâs upset with Canadian tariffs -- but Trudeauâs office says it never extended an invitation.
Trump said Wednesday that he turned down a meeting with Trudeau âbecause his tariffs are too high and he doesnât seem to want to move and I told him, âForget about it.ââ
A spokesperson for the Prime Ministerâs Office curtly rejected Trumpâs version of events to ŰÎŰ´ŤĂ˝, saying âno meeting was requested.â
âWe donât have any comment beyond that,â the spokesperson said.
The back-and-forth followed an explosive and occasionally contradictory press conference in which Trump threatened to slap new taxes on Canadaâs auto industry â a business sector he described as âthe motherlodeâ â if NAFTA negotiators fail to reach a deal.
âIf Canada doesnât make a deal with us, weâre going to make a much better deal. Weâre going to tax the cars that come in,â Trump said during a press conference at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
âWe will put billions and billions of dollars into our treasury, and frankly weâll be very happy, because itâs actually more money than you can make under any circumstance with making a deal.â
Trumpâs new threat comes just four days before the American-imposed deadline, set for Sept. 30, to provide Congress with updated text of the NAFTA deal. The U.S. and Mexico have already reached a consensus following bilateral negotiations.
Canadian negotiators are still meeting behind closed doors with American counterparts in hopes of hammering out an agreement. The two sides have reportedly made progress in recent weeks, but have been unable to settle a few key issues.
Trump cast serious doubts on those talks, saying he was very unhappy with âthe negotiations and negotiating style of Canada.â He accused Canada of treating the U.S. âvery badlyâ and specifically called out Canadaâs dairy industry, which he says hurts farmers in Wisconsin and New York, his home state.
âCanada has a long way to go. I must be honest with you, weâre not getting along at all with their negotiators,â Trump said.
But Trump later suggested that thereâs still âa good chance stillâ that a deal could happen, but he doesnât plan to accept âanything nearâ what Canadian negotiators have proposed.
Specifically addressing Canadaâs NAFTA team, Trump said: âWe donât like their representative very much.â
Itâs unclear exactly which representative Trump was referring to. Canada is represented by a team of NAFTA negotiators led by Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland.
For her part, Freeland has remained optimistic but tight-lipped about the state of NAFTA talks. Last Thursday, she told reporters in Washington, D.C. that the atmosphere in the room âcontinues to be constructive.â
U.S. Ambassador to Canada Kelly Craft said Wednesday evening that sheâd heard Trumpâs comments about Canadaâs NAFTA representative. Craft insisted there is nothing but respect between U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer and Freeland at the negotiating table.
Trump went on to say that, if a new deal is struck, he refuses to call it NAFTA because heâs ânever liked it.â Instead, he said it could be called âU.S.-M-Câ â United States, Mexico and Canada â but thatâs dependent on the terms of the deal.
âBut itâll probably or possibly be just U.S.-M. Itâll be United States and Mexico,â he said, before interjecting. âCanada will come along.â