On October 24, President Donald Trump announced the termination of all trade negotiations with Canada. He posted the announcement on the Truth Social platform on Thursday evening, in a characteristically tough tone.
According to Mr. Trump, this decision was made after Canada was accused of releasing a “deceptive” advertisement, in which the image of the late President Ronald Reagan made negative comments about tariff policy – a video that was said to have been edited and cut to attack Trump’s “America First” views.
“As a result of this egregious deception, all trade negotiations with Canada are hereby terminated immediately,” Mr. Trump wrote.
Analysts said that Trump's actions were not only politically symbolic, but also reflected the strong-arm negotiating tactics he used during his first term. However, in the short term, this statement caused the Canadian dollar (CAD) to slightly decline, while the Toronto stock market recorded an adjustment immediately after the announcement.
Canada is the United States’ second-largest trading partner, behind only Mexico. Each year, the two countries trade more than $790 billion worth of goods, mostly energy, automobiles, and agricultural products. Any disruption in bilateral trade could have a ripple effect across North America.
Some observers believe that Trump's statement could be a "pressure" in the process of renegotiating the new North American trade agreement - an agreement that he has repeatedly criticized as "unfair" to American workers.
