U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra says the U.S. president’s repeated statements that the country doesn’t “need” Canada’s exports are his way of urging Ottawa to make a satisfactory deal.
“You maybe don’t like the way the president says it, but taken in the tone of what he’s saying, is ‘we’re open to offers, make your case,” Hoekstra said during a U.S.-Canada Summit in Toronto on June 11.
Hoekstra’s comments come a day after U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters he was considering not renewing the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) and repeated the argument that his country does not “need anything that Canada has.”
Trump has repeatedly said during his second term in office that the United States does not need Canadian automobiles, lumber, or oil. But Hoekstra said there is a “tremendous amount of things” that the United States does need from Canada. He cited potash fertilizer from Saskatchewan-based Nutrien as an example.
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