Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said negotiations to rework the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) broke down between his country, the U.S., and Mexico Vice President Mike Pence demanded any deal to expire in five years, The Washington Post reported.
Trudeau said he had been ready to go to Washington to finalize reworking the agreement, but Pence said a meeting would only happen if the "sunset" provision was agreed to beforehand, The Post reported.
"I had to highlight that there was no possibility of any Canadian prime minister signing a NAFTA deal that included a five-year sunset clause, and obviously the visit didn't happen," Trudeau said Thursday, The Post reported.
Trudeau's comments came after President Donald Trump enacted tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada, Mexico, and the European Union. The tariffs — 25 percent on imported steel, 10 percent on aluminum — take effect Friday.
Trudeau said the tariffs are "totally unacceptable."
The Canadian prime minister said Thursday that he felt the U.S., Mexico, and Canada were on the verge of renegotiating NAFTA, calling it a "win, win, win," before talks stalled after the Pence call, The Post reported.
The White House had sought a sunset provision in the NAFTA deal for months. Canada and Mexico have not been supportive of the idea, having said that it would remove economic security for businesses that are trying to comply with trade rules, The Post reported.
The White House issued a statement in response to Trudeau's criticism, according to the Post:
"The United States has been taken advantage of for many decades on trade. Those days are over. Earlier today, this message was conveyed to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada: The United States will agree to a fair deal, or there will be no deal at all."
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