Trudeau will not attend USMCA celebration in Washington The Canadian prime minister signaled last week he was unlikely to attend the meeting.By Maura Forrest

7 July, 2020 | Filed under: All News,more news,Opinion,RECENT POSTS,Somali news | Posted by:
Justin Trudeau Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, right, and President Donald Trump talk prior to a NATO round table meeting in Watford, Hertfordshire, England, Wednesday, in Dec. 2019. | Frank Augstein/AP Photo

BOTTAWA — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will not attend a meeting in Washington, D.C., this week to mark the start of the new North American free trade pact.

President Donald Trump and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador are slated to meet on Wednesday and Thursday to celebrate the USMCA, but Trudeau’s office said Monday morning that he will be in Ottawa this week for cabinet meetings and a sitting of the Canadian Parliament.

“The entry-into-force of the new NAFTA is good for Canada, the United States, and Mexico. It will help ensure that North America emerges stronger from the COVID-19 pandemic,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement. “We continue to work with our NAFTA partners to ensure this new agreement becomes a success for all three countries.”

 Key context: Trudeau signaled last week he was unlikely to attend the meeting, due both to the pandemic and new tariff threats from the Trump administration.

The U.S. has been pressing Ottawa to impose quotas on Canadian aluminum exports or face the reintroduction of a 10 percent tariff, which would likely create new tension in the Canada-U.S. relationship.

“We’re obviously concerned about the proposed issue of tariffs on aluminum and steel that the Americans have floated recently,” Trudeau said during a press conference on Friday. “We’re also concerned about the health situation and the coronavirus reality that is still hitting all three of our countries.”

The U.S. is currently reporting record numbers of new Covid-19 cases, while Canada has largely flattened its epidemic curve. The U.S. recorded nearly 50,000 new cases on Sunday, while Canada confirmed just 219 new coronavirus infections.

Canada is requiring any traveler returning to the country to self-isolate for two weeks upon arrival, and Trudeau was asked last week whether that rule would apply to him. “I can assure you that at all times we will follow all the rules and all the advice of public health,” he said.

What’s next: The USMCA took effect on July 1, but the possibility of new tariffs threatens the stability the trade deal was supposed to provide during a time of unprecedented economic uncertainty.

Source:politico.com