Trudeau Gives His View of Talks on NAFTA, Softwood Lumber
During a meeting with Donald Trump at the White House, Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau argued that "Canada is a stable and reliable source of uranium for American civil nuclear reactors," he told reporters at a press conference at the end of the day June 20. Trudeau was referring to an underlying argument made by domestic uranium mining companies that is now the basis of a Section 232 investigation (see 1807180029). The petitioners are asking that government agencies that source uranium be required to buy from American mines, and that 25 percent of the market be reserved for American producers. They say that only 5 percent of uranium -- which is primarily needed for nuclear power plants -- is coming from U.S. mines.
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Trade was the most prominent topic discussed by the two leaders, Trudeau said. "With over two billion dollars of cross-border trade every single day, we can’t overstate how important free trade is to the Canada-U.S. relationship," he said. "At the same time, we still have some outstanding issues to resolve on the trade front, like the imposition of American duties on Canadian softwood lumber."
Trudeau said he and Trump agreed their countries would ratify a new pre-clearance agreement this summer, which would apply to both travelers and cargo. He said they are also working closely together to protect North American steel and aluminum from dumped imports. He said the Canadian Senate passed a bill on safeguards that day.
Trudeau was asked about how Canada would deal with any changes to the text of the new NAFTA -- including biologics exclusivity -- needed to get Democrats' votes. He said he didn't want to interfere with the internal process of Congress, though he said he had a productive meeting earlier that day with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
"We are concerned that any reopening of NAFTA could lead to not just lengthy further negotiations that we all were quite pleased were behind us, but also may lead to worse outcomes for Canadians and for Canada. We recognize, however, that the U.S. is going through its process and we remain alert to potential challenges and opportunities that may come through that process," he said.