US President Donald Trump (R) speaks to the press during a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the White House on October 11, 2017. (AFP Photo/Jim Watson)
WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump on Thursday continued to insist the United States has a trade deficit with Canada, following news reports that he claimed at a fundraiser about talking trade with the country’s prime minister without knowing all the facts.
Trump wrote on Twitter: “We do have a Trade Deficit with Canada, as we do with almost all countries (some of them massive). P.M. Justin Trudeau of Canada, a very good guy, doesn’t like saying that Canada has a Surplus vs. the U.S.(negotiating), but they do…they almost all do…and that’s how I know!”
Trump, who routinely inflates trade deficits, has previously complained about a trade deficit with Canada even though the US runs an overall surplus with that country — when the value of services is included in the calculation.
Trump spoke about trade during a fundraising speech in St. Louis on Wednesday, according to audio obtained by The Washington Post. The paper reported that Trump said he freestyled with the facts when talking trade with Trudeau.
US President Donald Trump waves as he walks away after participating in a roundtable discussion on tax policy at the Boeing Company in St. Louis, Missouri, on March 14, 2018. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Trump said Trudeau told him there was no trade deficit. Trump said he replied, “‘Wrong, Justin, you do.’ I didn’t even know. … I had no idea. I just said, ‘You’re wrong.'”
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Trump claimed the figures don’t include timber and energy.
The Office of the United States Trade Representative said the United States has a trade surplus with Canada.
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