Trump threatens to exclude Canada from new NAFTA deal

International Desk: US President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened to exclude Canada from a new NAFTA agreement after negotiations to rewrite the pact ended without an agreement the night before.

"There is no political necessity to keep Canada in the new NAFTA deal. If we don't make a fair deal for the U.S. after decades of abuse, Canada will be out," he tweeted.

"Congress should not interfere with these negotiations or I will simply terminate NAFTA entirely & we will be far better off."

US-Canadian trade talks are set to resume on Wednesday, and Ottawa and Washington still have time to reach an agreement that would keep Canada in the 25-year-old trade pact with Mexico.

But Trump's tweet seemed designed to ramp up pressure on Canadian negotiators.

Earlier in the week, officials appeared close to reaching a deal that would rewrite the North American Free Trade Agreement, but leaked inflammatory comments from Trump -- seen by some Canadians as suggesting he was bargaining in bad faith -- threatened to upend the talks.

Trump has repeatedly denounced NAFTA as "one of the worst trade deals ever made," language he repeated on Saturday.

Source: Agencies
 

risingbd/Dhaka/September 02, 2018/A K Azad