OTTAWA 鈥� In his first public comments since U.S. President Donald Trump's fiery press conference which cast serious doubt on the fate of NAFTA, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau defended the Canadian negotiators and said a deal is still possible.
"The Americans are finding that the negotiations are tough, because Canadians are tough negotiators, as we should be, but a good and fair deal is still very possible," Trudeau said, speaking with reporters on his way into a cabinet meeting on Parliament Hill.
In Wednesday evening鈥檚 remarks, Trump threatened to slap new taxes on Canada鈥檚 auto industry and delivered a barrage of disparaging comments about Canada. Trump said he was very unhappy with "the negotiations and negotiating style of Canada," and that he turned down a recent one-on-one with Trudeau because Canadian tariffs are too high.
In response, Trudeau鈥檚 office released a statement saying that no meeting was requested.
Canadian negotiators are still meeting behind closed doors with American counterparts in hopes of hammering out an agreement. The two sides have reportedly made progress in recent weeks, but have been unable to settle a few key issues. The U.S. and Mexico have already reached a consensus following bilateral negotiations.
Trump later suggested that there鈥檚 still 鈥渁 good chance still鈥� that a deal could happen, but he doesn鈥檛 plan to accept 鈥渁nything near鈥� what Canadian negotiators have proposed.
During his wide-spanning press conference on Wednesday, Trump accused Canada of treating the U.S. 鈥渧ery badly鈥� and said: 鈥淲e don鈥檛 like their representative very much.鈥�
It鈥檚 unclear exactly which representative Trump was referring to. Canada is represented by a team of NAFTA negotiators led by Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland.
U.S. Ambassador to Canada Kelly Craft said Wednesday evening that she鈥檇 heard Trump鈥檚 comments about Canada鈥檚 NAFTA representative. Craft insisted there is nothing but respect between U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer and Freeland at the negotiating table.
Fellow female ministers spoke in defence of Freeland on their way in to Thursday鈥檚 cabinet meeting.
"Minister Freeland is doing an outstanding job at a very difficult task on behalf of all Canadians," said Indigenous Services Minister Jane Philpott.
In New York, Freeland declined to comment when asked by 麻豆影视 about Trump's comments.
I caught up with Foreign Affairs Min. Chrystia Freeland in NYC to ask what she thought of President Trump鈥檚 remarks. She didn鈥檛 want to talk about it.
鈥� Glen McGregor (@glen_mcgregor)
