Larger Role for Congress Will Make This Negotiation Different Than CUFTA and NAFTA Talks

Speaking in Kenosha, Wisconsin in April, U.S. President Donald Trump scrambled expectations for the renegotiation of NAFTA when he called Canadian supply management programs for the dairy sector “a disgrace” and added, “We're also going to stand up for our dairy farmers, because in Canada some very unfair things have happened to our dairy farmers and others.”

One week later, the Trump administration announced duties on Canadian softwood lumber.

Two months earlier, meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Trump had said that with regard to Canada, he believed that NAFTA renegotiation would only involve a few small “tweaks.” Trump’s tweak comment seemed more like a twerk to many Canadians after April.