US Minister of Trade Howard Lottennik said in a statement after meeting Canadian officials on Thursday that the United States wants to follow “fair trade” with Canada, but it says that its goal is to “eliminate the status quo” of commercial measures that it says restricts American exports.
Finance Minister Dominic Lieblank, Prime Minister of Ontario Doug Ford, met the Minister of Industry Francois Philip, and the Canadian ambassador to the United States, Kirsten Hellman, with Lootnick and American Trade Representative Jameson Jarir on Thursday.
“By building balanced and fair relations that eliminate the current current situation of the overwhelming trade deficit and crushing foreign restrictions, the Trump administration will help us, large and small companies, in the global market,” Lootnick said in a reading issued on Thursday night.
The trade deficit of the United States with Canada is due to the high energy needs of the American economy.
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Without Canadian energy exports, the commercial relationship is reversed. the The United States has a trade surplus of about $ 60 billion In her relationship with Canada when one does not count energy exports.
Lottennik said that the two sides discussed the tariff of steel, US President Donald Trump, aluminum and his periodic period “The goal of a fair trade with Canada and the province of Ontario, while he was working to secure the American borders and eliminate Fintanel.”
According to Canadian federal data, Less than one per cent of fentanel enters the United States It comes from Canada.
Data from the US Customs Protection and Border Protection Agency He explains that in January, fentanel attacks on the Canadian -American border fell to their lowest levels since 2023, with less than 14 grams during the month. More than 19 kilograms of fentanel from Canada have been arrested in the past fiscal year.
Lootnick said that he and Jarir “highlighted the Trump administration’s fixed commitment to monitoring fair trade and the potential role of Canada in those efforts. Both countries realized the strength and date of their relationship.”
On Thursday, discussions crowned a dramatic week in which Ford imposed on Monday 25 percent on all electricity that was sold from its boycott to New York, Minnesota and Michigan, in response to the American definitions on Canada, earlier in the month.
Trump then threatened to double the tariff that was identified on Wednesday on steel and aluminum to 50 percent from 25 percent. Hours later, Ford said that the energy fee will be temporarily stopped after a meeting with Lutnick was arranged.
The Trump tariff kicks the steel and aluminum on Thursday morning by 25 percent, and it did $ 29.8 billion in the additional Canadian retaliatory tariff.
Ford said that the meeting with US officials on Thursday was “fruitful”.
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