Trudeau: Canada’s steel industry can breathe a sigh of relief

Washington (CNN) Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday that he expects Canadian steelmakers to „breathe a sigh of relief.” Because trade negotiations continue between NAFTA members.

Trump has railed against the world’s major trading partners, most recently by imposing a tariff on steel and aluminum imports, but has granted a waiver for Canadian and Mexican steelmakers as the three countries move closer to reorganizing NAFTA, the trade deal that Trump threatened to break it.

Trudeau, speaking Monday on CNN’s „Anderson Cooper 360,” said he believed the exemption was justified.

Before announcing the exemption, Trump said he would raise tariffs on Canada and Mexico. These only if a new NAFTA agreement will be signed. Asked if he viewed the tariff exemption as a form of economic blackmail, Trudeau hesitated and said his country was also interested in reforming NAFTA.

Trudeau said he was working in the interest of his nation, but said it was „very possible to be a win-win-win situation” through the NAFTA negotiations. „We will respond exactly as we did. Focusing on the work we do together. And we don’t worry too much about the rhetoric”, he declared.

The White House communicated in a statement on Monday evening that Trudeau and Trump had a telephone conversation. Talk about last week’s steel and aluminum tariff. The release on the phone call said Trump emphasized the „swift conclusion” of NAFTA negotiations.

Article source: https://edition.cnn.com/2018/03/12/politics/justin-trudeau-steel-aluminum-trump/index.html