Trump scoffs at trade deal renegotiations, says “no real advantage” for U.S.

President Donald Trump has bluntly dismissed the upcoming trade talks with Canada, declaring that America holds all the leverage and doesn’t need whatever Canada “will be bringing to the table.”

Source: Wikimedia Commons

President Donald Trump has bluntly dismissed the upcoming trade talks with Canada, declaring that America holds all the leverage and doesn’t need whatever Canada “will be bringing to the table.”

“There’s no real advantage to it,” said Trump, referring to the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement, adding, “we could have it or not, it wouldn’t matter to me.”

While speaking with reporters at a Ford manufacturing plant in Dearborn, Michigan, Trump dismissed the notion of a renewed trade deal outright, saying there was “no real advantage to it.”

The U.S. president also added that while “Canada would love it,” his administration viewed the agreement as “irrelevant.”

“Canada wants it, they need it.” he said on Tuesday. “I want to be a nice person but I want to build the cars here, not in Canada. We used to build cars in Canada, now the Canada cars and Canadians are moving here to build cars. Same thing with Mexico, same thing with Japan.”

When asked whether he was opposed to renegotiating the trade deal, which expires in July, Trump said, “Well, I can,” before adding that it was not a concern of his.

“I don’t even think about USMCA. You know, I want to see Canada and Mexico do well but the problem is we don’t need their product.”

“We don’t need cars made in Canada, we don’t need cars made in Mexico, we want to make them here, and that’s what’s happening. Everybody’s moving here. From Canada, they’re coming here, from Mexico. From Japan, from Germany, from all over the world,d they’re coming here. They’re opening plants.”

The trade deal comes up for mandatory review this year, with formal talks slated to begin next week.

The USMCA has shielded Canada from the bulk of Trump’s widespread import tariffs, as it covers the vast majority of trade items.

However, Canadian steel and aluminum, as well as the lumber and auto sectors, have been hit with heavy tariffs because they do not fall under USMCA protection.