Trump threatens to exclude Canada from new NAFTA

US President Donald Trump yesterday threatened to exclude Canada from a new NAFTA agreement after negotiations to rewrite the pact ended without an agreement “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 greatly ramp up the pressure on Canadian negotiators. Earlier in the week, officials had appeared close to reaching a deal that would rewrite the North American Free Trade Agreement, but leaked inflammatory comments from Trump angered Canadian officials and threatened to upend the talks.