Trump and Trudeau Just Resolved One Trade Dispute. Can They Head Off Another?
Trump and Trudeau Just Resolved One Trade Dispute. Can They Head Off Another?
(Bloomberg) -- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau planned to take up trade disputes with President Donald Trump in Washington on Thursday and meet with congressional leaders on the proposed U.S.-Canada-Mexico trade pact.
Trudeau was talking with Trump and U.S. cabinet officials at the White House before meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, as lawmakers weigh ratification of the three-country trade deal.
The prime minister is arguing against potential U.S. tariffs or quotas on uranium, a nuclear power plant fuel produced in his country, and American tariffs on softwood lumber, a dispute that predates the administrations of both countries, two Canadian officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Trade relations have improved since Trump last month lifted steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada, and last November signed a deal on a replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement, known as the USMCA.
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Thursday, Trump called Trudeau a friend and said the U.S., Canada and Mexico crafted a trade deal that’s good for workers in the three countries.
“This brings us into a position where we’re not competing with each other, we’re competing against the world,” Trump said. “I think it’s going to end up being a very important deal."
Trump and Trudeau also were likely to discuss trade with China, ahead of next week’s Group of 20 meeting in Japan. The president plans to meet with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to restart trade talks after a month-long standoff and threats by Trump to expand tariffs on goods from the country.
The Trump-Trudeau meeting comes as congressional Democrats have raised objections to the USMCA. Trudeau plans to seek guidance from Pelosi on whether the USMCA can pass the House, and how quickly, according to the Canadian officials. House Democrats met for the first time Wednesday to discuss changes, and Canada has warned it will only advance the deal as quickly as the U.S. does.
Mexico’s Senate on Wednesday ratified the agreement. Canada’s House of Commons adjourned Thursday for its summer break without ratifying the trade deal.
Parliament Recall?
“We have an ability to recall Parliament if we need to” to pass the trade deal this summer, Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa on Wednesday. “We will also make sure that we’re monitoring the pace at which the Americans are ratifying the process.”
Trump and Trudeau were set to discuss measures to strengthen commercial and security ties between the two countries, a senior U.S. administration official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Officials expected to take part in meetings between the two leaders included Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Trump adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, one of the Canadian officials said.
Trudeau’s delegation includes his ministers of foreign affairs, finance and defense, as well as his chief of staff and ambassador to Washington, the Canadian official added.
Lighthizer on Wednesday called on lawmakers to pass the USMCA. “I look forward to working with members to make it even better and to write implementing legislation that will earn large, bipartisan majorities,” he said.
Democrats said ratification by August is possible but would be a heavy lift, while Canada has elections in October.
Uranium Tariffs
Trump is weighing restrictions on uranium imports under the same law he used to apply levies on steel and aluminum, citing a national security concern. American uranium miners Energy Fuels Inc. and Ur-Energy Inc. had complained about “state-owned enterprises in adversarial countries like Russia and its allies,” which could trigger tariffs on other countries, including Canada.
In a joint statement issued through a spokeswoman, the U.S. uranium companies said that Russia and its allies are flooding the global market with artificially cheap uranium.
“We urge President Trump to implement a quota that, in effect, reserves 25% of the U.S. market for domestic uranium,” the statement said. “We support recognizing our allies, like Canada, under the quota system and allocating a segment of the remaining 75% for them.”
Trump has until mid-July to make a decision. The so-called Section 232 tariffs would hit Canada the hardest, as the country is the top source of U.S. imports of uranium. Scott Moe, premier of the uranium-producing Canadian province of Saskatchewan, has lobbied against tariffs imposed on national security grounds. “It is my strong belief that Canadian uranium poses no such threat to our closest trading partner and ally,” Moe said in an emailed statement.
Regarding China, Canada is on the front lines of a U.S.-China dispute over China’s Huawei Technologies Co., which the Trump administration says poses a national security threat. The Canadian authorities arrested Huawei’s Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou late last year, after a U.S. extradition request. China seized two Canadians nine days later. Trump offered to help Canada in pressing China for the release of the two Canadians.
--With assistance from Theophilos Argitis, Erik Wasson and Nacha Cattan.
To contact the reporter on this story: Josh Wingrove in Washington at jwingrove4@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Justin Blum, Joshua Gallu
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