Canada Presses Ahead With Trump Trade Talks After US Midterms

(MENAFN) Canada will not pause its trade negotiations with the Trump administration in the wake of the US midterm elections, Canada-US Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc declared Wednesday, noting that the incoming Congress will not take office until January.

Addressing reporters in Ottawa, LeBlanc offered congratulations to the winners of the American vote but insisted Ottawa’s “focus hasn’t changed.”

The government, he said, is concentrating on affordability, major projects, a stronger economy and broader trade ties with other partners, priorities that will carry through to the budget.

LeBlanc stressed that the existing Congress and the administration will keep their authority until the newly elected lawmakers are sworn in and their terms begin.

“So the current Congress will remain in place, as will the administration of President (Donald) Trump, with whom we’re having our trade discussions,” he said.

He added that trade negotiations fall to the US executive branch, not to Congress.

“Our job is to focus on what we can control, and that’s to work with the people that Americans have elected. And in the case of our trade conversations, those are conducted at the level of the American executive,” he said.

The minister also declined to weigh in on what motivated American voters, saying “it’s not up for Canadians to try and read into why particular American voters went in a particular direction.”

“The American Congress will act in the interests of the American Congress. Our work will be focused on what we can do here at home,” he added.

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