Scheer says free trade believers must stick together against Trump protectionism
OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer says nations that believe in free trade need to present a united front against the protectionist moves coming out of the United States.
Scheer was speaking from London, where he is travelling for a week of meetings with British officials and politicians including Prime Minister Theresa May, who he met with Thursday.
The trip comes during a big week in trade: International Trade Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne signed Canada onto the 11-member nation Trans-Pacific Partnership in Chile, then flies to Paraguay to launch free trade talks with the Mercosur trading bloc — the second-biggest in the Western Hemisphere after NAFTA, including South America’s two biggest economies, Brazil and Argentina.
On the flip side Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced new steel and aluminum tariffs of 25 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively — a subject Scheer said came up in many of his meetings this week. Although Canada is being exempted from the tariffs pending the outcome of NAFTA talks.