Trump urges for quick NAFTA deal in phone call with Trudeau

MONTREAL—U.S. President Donald Trump urged the quick completion of the NAFTA negotiations in a phone call with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday, amid indications the U.S. wants a deal wrapped up this spring.
Trudeau called his American counterpart during a tour of aluminum facilities in Quebec, on a day the prime minister did American television interviews to promote the integrated Canada-U.S. economy.
What he heard directly from the president echoed public remarks from Trump’s administration: the U.S. trade czar recently said he wants a new NAFTA concluded within weeks, because of upcoming elections in the different countries.
“President Trump emphasized the importance of quickly concluding the ongoing NAFTA negotiations,” said a readout from the White House.
“(That would) ensure the vitality of United States and North American manufacturing industries and … protect the economic and national security of the United States.”
The U.S. has suggested further delays might imperil the NAFTA process, with an outsider candidate leading polls for Mexico’s July 1 election, and with Trump’s party in danger of losing control of the U.S. Congress.
Trudeau says he warned Trump that slapping tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum would “harm” negotiations aimed at signing a new continental trade deal.
The Liberal leader also warned that the U.S. President’s stated goals of saving American jobs and revitalizing the country’s economy would backfire if import taxes were applied to steel and aluminum.