'I'm in no rush': Trump leaves US-Canada trade talks in limbo

US President Donald Trump on Monday said he was in no hurry to restart trade talks with Canada, accusing Ottawa of treating Washington unfairly and saying any future agreement would require Canada to be "honest" with Washington.

Trump made the remarks when reporters asked whether trade negotiations with Canada could resume before the US midterm elections. He did not give a timeline for restarting the talks.

"I don't know. Canada behaves very badly with the United States and I don't know," Trump said before boarding Marine One.


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The US president also accused Canada of imposing tariffs on American goods that he said had not been widely known.

"We caught them in the act; they charged us a lot of tariffs that nobody knew about it except me. And it will work out eventually, but I don't know about -- I'm in no rush," he said.

Trump did not specify which Canadian tariffs he was referring to or provide figures to support his claims.

He said the trade relationship between the two countries was tilted in Canada's favour, arguing that Canada conducts much of its business with the United States while the US does relatively little business with Canada.

"You know, Canada does all their business with us, we do very little business with them," Trump said.

Trump calls for 'honest' Canada

Trump also made clear that he wants Canada to change its approach before any future trade agreement is reached.

"And all we ask of one thing in Canada, they have to be honest. They are not honest with the United States; they've been ripping us off for years," he said.

He also did not clarify whether talks would be ruled out before the midterm elections. Instead, he repeatedly stressed that he was not under pressure to restart negotiations.

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Trump said he expected the trade dispute to eventually be resolved, but offered no indication that a new round of talks was imminent.

US-Canada trade talks stalled

The latest comments come after trade negotiations between Washington and Ottawa broke down in August. The US subsequently imposed tariffs of up to 50% on about $20 billion of Canadian goods, while Canada announced retaliatory duties ranging from 15% to 50% on around $20 billion of US products.

The Canadian counter-tariffs cover products including steel, furniture, clothing, electronics and other goods. The dispute has raised concerns over the future of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, which governs much of North American trade.

The two sides have traded blame over the collapse of negotiations. A Canadian government source had said in September that there were no talks between the two countries at the ministerial or government-official level.

Trump on Monday did not say whether his administration was using other channels to engage Canadian officials.