CANADA/NAFTA/TARIFFS/TRADE DEALS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “A move by the United States to explore tariffs on auto imports is based on flimsy logic and is clearly linked to talks to modernize the NAFTA trade pact, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Thursday [5-24-18]. Trudeau told Reuters in an interview that although the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump had raised the idea of auto tariffs, there was no guarantee the punitive measures would ever actually be imposed. The Trump administration said on Wednesday [5-23-18] it had launched a national security investigation into car and truck imports that could lead to new U.S. tariffs similar to those imposed on imported steel and aluminum recently. Canada rejects any idea it could be a threat to the United States…Addressing another hot trade issue, Trudeau defended Canada’s decision to block a proposed C$1.51 billion ($1.18 billion) takeover of construction company Aecon by a Chinese state builder on national security grounds.”
-Reuters, “Exclusive: Canada’s Trudeau-Possible U.S. Auto Tariffs Based on Flimsy Logic,” The New York Times online, May 24, 2018