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.