President Trump may be fresh off a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, but he’s still smarting from a perceived slight from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Trump said Trudeau’s comments at a press conference after the G7 summit in Canada would “cost a lot of money for the people of Canada.” At that post-G7 press conference on Saturday, Trudeau had called U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs “insulting” and said he would proceed with retaliatory tariffs that he’d already announced.
The Trump administration took umbrage at an ally publicly criticizing U.S. policy just before a historic meeting with Kim Jong-Un. Trump’s decision not to sign the joint statement that came out of the G7 meeting was a response to Trudeau’s press conference, according to White House Economic Adviser Larry Kudlow.
On Tuesday Trump reiterated his belief that the United States is “being taken advantage of by virtually every one” of the countries in the G7. He also said the U.S. had a trade deficit of $17 billion with Canada, though he implied that it might be as large as $100 billion. According to the Office of the United States Trade Representative, the U.S. had an $8.4 billion trade surplus with Canada, but a $17.5 billion trade deficit if services were excluded.
Trump threatened to stop trading with any country that didn’t reduce tariffs and trade barriers on Saturday. Trump’s threats could have an effect on NAFTA negotiations currently ongoing between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.
