Canada Blew Up Trade Deal at Last Minute, Lutnick Says

Summary

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick tells Joe Mathieu that Canada, not the US, walked away from an interim trade deal at the last minute. He says Canadian negotiators raised new heavy-truck demands just before signing and that Ottawa chose domestic political conflict with Donald Trump over the Canadian economy. Lutnick argues this is bad for Canada and that no US-Canada trade deal is coming anytime soon.

• Lutnick disputes Canadian claims that the US kept moving goalposts.
• He says six weeks of negotiations produced an interim deal that Trump announced as reached.
• According to Lutnick, Canadian counterparts raised new heavy-truck demands late Friday before signing.
• He argues Canada blew up the deal for domestic political reasons, including Quebec and Liberal election politics.
• Lutnick says the breakdown is bad for Canada's economy.
• He expects no US-Canada trade deal anytime soon.