President Trump Blast Canada Over NAFTA, Reject Trudeau Meeting

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U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday blasted Canada over the slow pace of talks over NAFTA, saying he was so unhappy that he had rejected Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's request for a one-on-one meeting.

The remarks by Trump, who repeated a threat to impose tariffs on Canadian autos, knocked the Canadian dollar down to a one-week low against the U.S. greenback.

The comments also mark a new low in relations between the two leaders. Trudeau spokeswoman Chantal Gagnon said: "No meeting was requested. We don't have any comment beyond that."

The attack cast further doubt on the future of the three-nation North American Free Trade Agreement, which underpins $1.2 trillion in annual trade between Canada, Mexico and the United States. Markets and business groups are openly fretting about the damage that a collapse could provoke.

Trump, who wants major changes to the 1994 treaty, has already concluded a text with Mexico and is threatening to leave out Canada unless it signs up by this Sunday.

Trump told reporters he had rebuffed a Trudeau request for a meeting "because his tariffs are too high and he doesn't seem to want to move and I told him 'forget about it.’ And frankly we're thinking about just taxing cars coming in from Canada."

Earlier on Wednesday, Trudeau shrugged off U.S. pressure to quickly agree to a deal and indicated it was possible the three member nations might fail to conclude a new pact.

The two sides are still far apart on major issues such as how to settle disputes and U.S. demands for more access to Canada's protected dairy market.

"We're very unhappy with the negotiations and the negotiating style of Canada. We don't like their representative very much," Trump said in an apparent reference to Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland.