Donald Trump says he might negotiate trade deal with Mexico first, Canada 'later' [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

By DANIEL DALE Washington Bureau Chief
Wed., July 18, 2018

WASHINGTON—Expressing more irritation with Canadian dairy policy, U.S. President Donald Trump says he might first try to negotiate a trade deal with Mexico and then deal separately with Canada “at a later time.”

“We’ve had very good sessions with Mexico, and with the new president of Mexico, who won overwhelmingly,” Trump said at a Wednesday cabinet meeting, referring to Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the left-wing populist who was elected in early July and takes office in December. “And we’re doing very well on our trade agreement. So we’ll see what happens. We may do separately with Mexico and we’ll negotiate with Canada at a later time.”

Trump’s musings about separating the three-country North American Free Trade Agreement into two separate deals are not new. Trump has long said that he prefers two-country agreements to multi-country agreements, and he has repeatedly floated the idea of splitting up NAFTA.

But this was the first time he had suggested he might want to negotiate with Mexico first and Canada second.

More:
https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2018/07/18/donald-trump-says-he-might-negotiate-trade-deal-with-mexico-first-canada-later.html