US President Donald Trump said on Saturday there was no need to keep Canada in the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) and warned the US Congress not to "interfere" with the trade negotiations or he would terminate the trilateral trade pact altogether.
“There is no political necessity to keep Canada in the new Nafta deal. If we don’t make a fair deal for the US after decades of abuse, Canada will be out,” Mr Trump said on Twitter.
“Congress should not interfere w/ these negotiations or I will simply terminate Nafta entirely & we will be far better off.”
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Mr Trump on Friday notified Congress of his intention to sign a bilateral deal with Mexico, after contentious talks with Canada ended that day without a deal to revamp Nafta. Mr Trump had unveiled a deal with Mexico on Monday.
Legislators on Friday warned a deal with Mexico could struggle to win approval from Congress unless Canada was also included. Support from Democrats would be needed to pass a bilateral deal, they said.
Mr Trump on Monday threatened to put tariffs on Canadian-made cars if Canada did not join the talks to revamp Nafta, which he has repeatedly criticised. On Saturday, Mr Trump repeated accusations that Nafta had resulted in a loss of US jobs and business.
