Trump calls for a fair trade deal with Canada
President Trump on Wednesday said the “intense” negotiations over a new North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) should result in Canada treating the U.S. fairly on trade.
“[Canada] and other countries have been taking advantage of the United States for many years and this is the president that has stopped it,” Trump told reporters.
The president said Canada's tariffs on U.S. dairy imports have been excessive over the years and Canada has created “walls” against U.S. businesses.
“They charge tariffs of 300 percent on dairy products which a lot of people never understood,” Trump said.
Trump called NAFTA a “stupid deal” for the U.S. causing millions of American jobs to leave the country.
“NAFTA goes down as one of the worst trade deals in the history of our country,” he said. “It emptied out millions of jobs. It emptied out factories and plants all over the United States.”
U.S.-Canada NAFTA talks resumed Wednesday after the Trump administration threatened to withdraw itself from the 24-year-old trade deal, notifying Congress on Friday of its intention to enter into a trade deal with Mexico.
“The deal is a much more fair deal between the United States and Mexico,” Trump said.
Trump touted the strength of the U.S. economy, saying new U.S. trade deals could help economic growth exceed a second-quarter Growth Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate of 4.2 percent.
“When the trade deals are fixed and made fair, GDP will go even higher and potentially much higher than that,” he said.