Even without NAFTA, collateral risk to Canada very low: Trump adviser
Posted January 23, 2017 1:26 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
CALGARY (NEWS 1130) – Stephen Schwarzman doesn’t think Canadians have much to worry about these days.
Schwarzman, an American investor, billionaire, and adviser to US President Donald Trump, met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet Monday morning in Calgary.
Schwarzman says Canada has been a great partner of the US and despite a ‘change climate’, things should go well in future discussions.
He says Americans have enormous admiration for Canada and the commercial and cultural linkages the countries share.
“Canada’s been a great partner of the United States for as long as anybody can remember,” he said. “Whether it is open borders, it’s trade that moves back and forth.”
The billionaire, who leads the President’s Strategic and Policy Forum, told reporters the current trade relationship is a model the world should follow.
Schwarzman couldn’t talk about the Keystone XL pipeline but did say he wouldn’t be surprised if it got the go-ahead from Trump.
However, Canadian trade expert Lawrence Herman says Trump’s official notice to pull the U-S out of the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal signals more trouble ahead on trade. Herman says that includes the North American Free Trade Agreement and warns Canada needs to be prepared if the US decides to pull the plug on that deal too.
David MacNaughton, Canada’s ambassador to the United States, says he doesn’t think Trump has Canada in his sights and that bilateral agreements outside of NAFTA are a possibility.
