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Trump Seeks Bilateral NAFTA Approach

The Canadian government is rejecting a push by the Trump administration to strike separate, bilateral trade deals with Canada and Mexico instead of pushing ahead with a stalled effort to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement.

This story by The Canadian Press appeared in Automotive News Canada.

Ottawa’s refusal to pursue a one-on-one trade deal with the U.S. comes after Donald Trump’s top economic adviser said the president was serious about pursuing bilateral agreements with its NAFTA partners.

“His preference now — and he asked me to convey this — is to actually negotiate with Mexico and Canada separately,” said Larry Kudlow, director of Trump’s National Economic Council. “He prefers bilateral negotiations and he’s looking at two much different countries.”

The remarks are likely to create more cross-border economic uncertainty with the U.S. after Trump imposed stinging steel and aluminum tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico and Europe.

But they landed with a thud in Ottawa, where several cabinet ministers of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau insisted Tuesday that Ottawa remains singularly focused on a three-country deal.

The tariffs, meanwhile, have further complicated the U.S.-Canada relationship — as well as the effort by Canadian politicians of different stripes to appear united when they press Washington on trade issues.

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