When asked by a reporter about the challenges posed by U.S. auto tariffs, Trudeau said Canada would need to feel confident “about the path forward as we move forward – if we do – on a NAFTA 2.0,” according to Reuters.
Robert Lighthizer, the U.S. trade representative on Tuesday said that Canada was running out of time to join the United States and Mexico in a new North American Free Trade Agreement.
The comments were made at an event in New York. Lighthizer insisted that the Trump administration will move forward with a bilateral trade pact with Mexico by Sept. 30, regardless of what Canada does.
Lighthizer cited the protectionist barriers to Canada’s dairy industry and a disagreement over a mechanism for settling trade disputes between the two countries remain sticking points. “The fact is that Canada is not making concessions in areas that we think are essential,” Lighthizer said.
Trudeau, for his part, says that U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum would have to be scrapped before Canada felt comfortable signing a new NAFTA. But that is one concession the U.S. may not want to consider, according to the Financial Post.
“It will be very difficult to get rid of those tariffs now especially with a president like Trump who really believes in them,” said Gary Hufbauer, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, D.C. “That means even if he agrees to remove them he’ll just change them into quotas. Canada won’t like it but it’s better than a kick in the pants.”
