White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said he’s working to remove U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada and Mexico, after a Canadian minister signaled that his government may not ratify a new North American trade agreement if the duties remain.
Kudlow made the comments on a panel at the National Governors Association’s winter meeting in Washington on Sunday. He spoke after Marc Garneau, Canada’s transport minister, said “I don’t know if we are going to get there” in approving the deal if the tariffs aren’t removed.
The duties are no longer needed now that the two countries and Mexico have agreed on the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, Garneau said. Kudlow also suggested that U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer was working toward having the tariffs removed.
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