9/26/2018

AUTO INDUSTRY/CANADA/MEXICO/NAFTA/TRADE DEALS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/UN: “President Trump said he rejected a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada during the United Nations General Assembly this week and threatened on Wednesday [9-26-18] to punish Canada by taxing the cars it exports into America, signaling a new low in relations between the two nations. Mr. Trump’s comments come after months of tense trade negotiations between Canada and the United States have failed to produce an agreement and as the White House prepares to move ahead with a bilateral trade deal with just Mexico…Trade tensions between the United States and Canada have been rising for months, and relations between Mr. Trump and Mr. Trudeau have soured amid disagreements over the future of the North American Free Trade Agreement. Mr. Trump said he turned down a meeting with Mr. Trudeau because Canada had treated the United States ‘very badly’ and because of its high dairy tariffs, which are preventing the United States from selling milk into Canada. A spokesman for Mr. Trudeau said the prime minister never requested such a meeting. On Tuesday [9-25-18], Mr. Trump appeared to snub Mr. Trudeau when he did not stand to shake the Canadian prime minister’s hand during a lunch at the United Nations summit meeting. Mr. Trudeau said the two leaders did not meet because their schedules were full of meetings with leaders from far-flung countries.”

Alan Rappeport and Jim Tankersley, “Trump Berates Canada and Threatens Car Tariffs as Nafta Talks Falter,” The New York Times online, September 26, 2018