During his presidency, Donald Trump was keen on eliminating Canada’s supply management system and ripping up NAFTA, Trudeau says.
Canada weathered the first Donald Trump presidency and will be ready should he win the U.S. election in November, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says.
“It wasn’t easy the first time and if there’s a second time, it won’t be easy either,” Trudeau told business leaders on Tuesday at an event organized by the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal.
Trump, whose presidency ended in 2021, is the front-runner in the race to represent the Republicans in the 2024 U.S. election. On Monday, he scored a decisive victory in the Iowa caucuses, the first presidential nominating contest.
In his first presidency, Trump, a protectionist, was keen on eliminating Canada’s supply management system and ripping up the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Trudeau said.
In the end, a new trade agreement — the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement — was negotiated to replace NAFTA.
Canada has bargaining power in its dealings with the U.S., Trudeau said.
“Our biggest asset during the Trump years was the work that we’ve done over generations to have an economy that’s well integrated with that of the United States.
“I spent a lot of time during the Trump (presidency) speaking to governors from Republican states to remind them that Canada is their first or second-biggest export market.”
Trudeau and Trump had a strained personal relationship. Trump once said Trudeau was “two-faced,” describing the prime minister as “very dishonest and weak.”
On Tuesday, Trudeau appeared to take a swipe at Trump, painting a stark picture of the Republican’s populism and the polarization of American politics.
“Will (the U.S.) continue to be a country that’s optimistic and engaged with the future, or will they choose a nostalgic retreat back to a period that never existed — a populism that reflects the anguish and fury that people are living through, without necessarily offering solutions?”
Trudeau said Canadians will face a similar choice in the next federal election.
He said his Liberal government is committed to moving forward optimistically, defending democratic principles and minority rights, and fighting climate change. He portrayed the Conservatives under Pierre Poilievre as a party that focuses on fear, anger and conspiracy theories.
