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Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he would tell U.S. President Donald Trump he is prepared to renegotiate the U.S-Canada-Mexico free trade agreement (CUSMA), should he win April’s federal election.
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Speaking to a crowd of Conservatives and other business and industry stakeholders in downtown Toronto, Poilievre pledged that should he become the next prime minister, he would spend his first day on the job seeking to accelerate those negotiations.
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In doing so, he says he would propose to have tariffs paused.
The free trade agreement Canada signed with the U.S. and Mexico, which was renegotiated at Trump’s demand during his first term in office, is set to be reviewed in 2026.
Poilievre’s comments on Wednesday come hours before Trump is set to announce a sweeping round of tariffs on foreign imports, including those from Canada.
The current trade war and Trump’s comments around annexing Canada have dominated the federal election campaign, with both Poilievre and Liberal Leader Mark Carney pitching themselves as the type of leader who is best suited to go up against Trump.
While Carney did not mention CUSMA specifically, he did point to a need to reset the partnership after his first call with Trump last week.
“We will have comprehensive discussions of the broader economic partnership after the federal election. But this is the start of negotiations,” he said.
“We will see what the United States does on the second of April.”
More to come…
National Post
staylor@postmedia.com
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