Trade war with Canada could end ‘pretty soon,’ Trump says during rally – National

U.S. President Donald Trump says he expects his ever-evolving trade war with Canada to end “pretty soon.”

Trump told a rally in Port Huron, Michigan, on Sunday that Canada had been “ripping off” the U.S. on trade and that the U.S. had no choice but to impose levies on Canadian goods.

He said the ongoing trade dispute between the two nations would be settled “pretty soon” and that Canada was “willing to give us anything at this moment.”

The Prime Minister’s Office did not immediately return a request for comment.

Diplomacy between Canada and the U.S. has been dicey since the Carney government walked away from formal trade talks in August after the Americans made unreasonable last-minute demands.

In response, Washington imposed tariffs on billions of dollars in Canadian goods, and Ottawa followed suit with retaliatory tariffs on American products.

“Canada has been ripping off the United States for years, OK? For years. And I had to do it. We’ll have that settled pretty soon. They’re willing to give us anything at this moment,” Trump said Sunday.

Trump’s trade war with Canada has been a key issue in the November midterm elections, especially in tight races.

With the midterms less than two weeks away, Trump announced Friday he will lift some of those 50 per cent tariffs at the end of the month, while adding tariffs to dozens of new products, including Canadian garbage and sewage.

It came at the request of Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine, an eastern state on the Canada-U.S. border hit hard by the trade dispute.