Finance

Trudeau Remains ‘Positive’ After Trump Says No Compromise With Canada

REUTERS/Christinne Muschi

David Krayden Ottawa Bureau Chief
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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada will “remain constructive” after hearing a report that President Donald Trump won’t make any compromises with Canada during the NAFTA negotiations.

The Toronto Star reported off-the-record remarks by the president Friday during an interview with Bloomberg News that Trump later confirmed in a tweet. Trump ruled out compromise and said the United States was “going to be so insulted [Canada is not] going to be able to make a deal.”

According to CBC News in Oshawa, Ontario, Trudeau told reporters, “We’re going to remain constructive, positive, serious and creative about what we do around the negotiating table, in what we do in relation with the United States. But we are also going to be unequivocal about always standing up for Canadians’ rights and Canadians’ interests.”

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland is in Washington in the thick of negotiations and says the two countries have not arrived at a deal, despite Friday afternoon being an arbitrary deadline for reaching one.

“We’re looking for a good deal, not just any deal. And we will only agree to a deal that is a good deal for Canada. We’re not there yet,” Freeland said Friday from Washington, where talks are taking place for a new NAFTA deal.

Freeland and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau both stressed today that the government will always stand up for the national interest in trade negotiations.

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