Canada doesn’t get credit for undoing ‘something bad,’ says U.S. trade czar

The United States’ top trade official says the Trump administration isn’t going to give Canada credit for its trade concessions.

Jamieson Greer says he’s glad Canada dropped its digital services tax and “rolled back” its Online Streaming Act but they “don’t really get credit for doing something bad and then undoing it.”

Prime Minister Mark Carney took those actions in an attempt to move trade talks with the United States forward.

Washington and Mexico have launched formal negotiations on the Canada-U.S.-Mexico agreement (CUSMA) on trade but no such talks have started with Ottawa.

Speaking at the Aspen Security Forum in Washington Wednesday, Greer says he’s in weekly contact with his Canadian counterparts and he’s offered Ottawa proposals to “put us in a better position.”

He says if U.S. President Donald Trump and Carney reach an understanding, they can get over “the hump” to some sort of trade agreement.