OTTAWA, Jan 26 (Reuters) – A review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade deal that is due to start later this year will be robust, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Monday, describing U.S. President Donald Trump as a tough negotiator.
Carney said some of the critical comments that Trump has made in recent days should be viewed in the context of the USMCA talks. The three-nation pact came into effect in July 2020.
Trump, who has frequently mused about annexation, last week said Canada “lives because of the United States” and on Saturday threatened to impose a 100% tariff on all Canadian imports if Ottawa concluded a trade deal with China.
“We are entering soon a negotiation, a review, formally, of the USMCA … it will be a robust review, is the expectation,” Carney told reporters.
“The President is a strong negotiator, and I think some of these comments and positioning should be viewed in the broader context of that.”
Earlier this month Trump said the United States did not need the USMCA, calling it irrelevant.
(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama )
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