White House: Trump says US will not withdraw from NAFTA

The first administration source told Reuters that there were diverging opinions within the USA government about how to proceed and it was possible that Trump could sign the executive order before the 100-day mark of his presidency. They are anxious and have got to do some strong negotiating.

On Tuesday came tariffs slapped on lumber exports. We will be America first, that is the clear message.

“He can do the same thing with his NAFTA order that he can do with his wall”, Vela said, alluding to a previous missive to Trump encouraging the future president to “take your border wall and shove it up your ass”.

Trump had threatened to renegotiate the NAFTA pact during the election campaign as he said it had destroyed American jobs, although he has backed off tough action in trade since taking office in January.”There is some discussion”, said another source with direct knowledge of the discussions.

This could well just be the beginning of what could become a very long series of unfortunate events for our federal government.

In Quebec, another lumber province, softwood negotiator Raymond Chretien said the two sides should try to settle the dispute ahead of the NAFTA talks.

“On the US side there’s simply more demand than supply, so they rely on Canadian lumber”, he said.

The former trade representative said that Canada should be proactive in trying to find “good pragmatic solutions” to the dairy and lumber issues that have continued to be trade irritants between the two countries. Business investment in this country is already anemic.

Other Canadians displayed wry humor – a traditional reaction to irritations from south of the border (at least since the last USA invasion during the War of 1812), considering the asymmetry of power. “The Liberal government will have their hands full”, Eglinski says.

Trump has criticized Canada’s lumber and dairy policies, saying the latter is a “disgrace” that is hurting USA dairy farmers. On Wednesday, he said he wants to see it slashed from 35 per cent to 15 per cent, while making foreign profits tax exempt. The eventual combined duty rate in that round was about 27 per cent. Canadian officials warned that U.S. home builders would be hit hard by the new lumber tariffs, as they could cause a spike in the cost of supplies they use for construction.

U.S. Wheat Associates and National Association of Wheat Growers officials said Mexico is the largest U.S. wheat buyer and imported more than 10 percent of all U.S. wheat exports this year.

Protectionist policies to prop up domestic lumber producers at the expense of millions of USA home buyers and lumber users is not the way to resolve the U.S.

Canadian lawmakers have also begun to dig in.

According to the Canadian Home Builders’ Association (CHBA), with the duties now in place, prices in Canada should retreat somewhat as supply builds and perhaps is even stockpiled, though the actual amounts are uncertain. If the timber trade were blatantly free and fair – no government ownership, no economic development subsidies, no export controls – we wouldn’t be debating it.

“By the way, every time the dispute went to trade tribunals, be they a NAFTA or a WTO adjudication, Canada always won”. Carr responded, sending Colbert a more recent photo.

But the person, along with an administration official, who both spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss internal deliberations, had said a number of options remained on the table, and stressed discussions are ongoing about the best way to proceed. Trump has called the move “a disgrace” that hurts U.S. producers in dairy states like Wisconsin.