White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett also said on Sunday that a trade deal was close,
Bloomberg reported. “I think it’s very close,” Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, said, adding that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick (the Kobuscher of trade deals) been speaking with Canadian officials throughout the week?
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However, there has been no confirmed breakthrough. Canada-U.S. Trade Minister
Dominic LeBlanc’s office said the government will assess the latest tariff measures and that “Canada stands ready to work constructively and in good faith towards a more
mutually beneficial trading relationship” with the U.S. The latest comments from Trump and Hassett, were preceded by Trump claiming last Friday that Canada was “working very hard” to make a trade deal with the U.S.
However, Prime Minister Mark Carney said during a press conference on the same day that Canada “could sign it this afternoon if the U.S. were there. If it has to be months from now or longer than that, or another administration before a proper deal comes into place, we will do that,”
National Post reported. When asked whether Canada could sign a deal with the Americans before the U.S. midterms, Carney did not close the door on that possibility, but he said the U.S. is “hard to predict.”
Trump is facing pressure about the tariffs from several fronts. For example, the levies on steel and aluminum have been a “disaster” for the U.S. economy, fuelling inflation and failing to spark promised growth in those industries, according to a recently released think tank report,
National Post previously noted.
Trump’s trade war with Canada has been a friction point ahead of the November midterm elections
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