Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is rejecting calls for a more combative response to U.S. protectionism, hoping a conciliatory approach will mend relations damaged during Donald Trump’s presidency.
“I don’t think that getting into a trade war with the U.S. is in the best interests of Canadian workers or the energy sector,” Trade Minister Mary Ng said Wednesday. “What we’ve got to do is find that common ground where Canadian interests are viewed and seen as American interests as well.”
Minister Ng said in an interview this week she is focusing her efforts with the new Biden administration on mutual U.S.-Canada interests despite early policy hiccups that risk further fracturing ties between the two nations, whose commercial relationship is worth US$725-billion a year.
The rocky start began when President Joe Biden cancelled permits for the Keystone XL pipeline, a move that prompted the leader of oil-rich Alberta to threaten a challenge under the old North American free-trade pact. Tensions grew when the new administration strengthened “Buy American” provisions for government procurement contracts.
“I don’t think that getting into a trade war with the U.S. is in the best interests of Canadian workers or the energy sector,” Ng said Wednesday. “What we’ve got to do is find that common ground where Canadian interests are viewed and seen as American interests as well.”
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