Steve Verheul, who led Canada’s negotiations for the North American trade pact, said talks collapsed last week over the “cumulative effect” of demands the Trump administration was making—on top of wanting to keep the threat of new or higher tariffs alive. (The Logic)

Talking point: “They were not prepared to accept any constraints on their ability to add further tariffs going forward,” Verheul said Wednesday during an online discussion organized by BMO. The White House wanted Canada to match U.S. tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum, including countries with which it has trade agreements. It also insisted on having “significant influence” over those other deals. “While Canada would be prepared to look at a ‘Fortress North America’ kind of approach, if we go down that track [it would be] very difficult for Canada to accept a very unbalanced agreement in the U.S.’ favour.”

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