Trudeau says Canada is ready if Trump nixes NAFTA
But Plan A is to stick with the charm offensive they've been pushing since day one.
"I don't think the president is going to be cancelling it," Trudeau said of the decades-old trade deal.
"I've been positive about NAFTA and NAFTA renegotiations from the very beginning. Our message has been consistent, to the president, to our partners and friends in the United States: that NAFTA has been good for American jobs. It's been good for Canadian jobs."
Trump didn't mention NAFTA directly in his state of the union address Tuesday night, but spoke about ditching what he sees as unfair trade deals, pointing to his earlier decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
If the president had wandered the halls of Capitol Hill earlier that day, he might have overheard former prime minister Brian Mulroney giving an impassioned defence of NAFTA before the U.S. Senate committee on foreign relations.
Mulroney, a key player in the initial trilateral pact, hit on the key points being made by Canadian politicians, even those on opposite benches: free trade has economically benefited the U.S. and Canada, and is part of the foundation holding up one of the closest bilateral relationships.
"How do you explain today a 4.1 per cent unemployment rate in the United States, and a similar rate in Canada and growing prosperity in Mexico?" he said.
"What happened, of course, is that we got together and we built a $21-trillion market with millions and millions of new jobs in North America, in all places."
When they met earlier this week, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer and Mexican Secretary of the Economy Ildefonso Guajardo closed a chapter on anti-corruption and made progress in some other key areas.
"This round was a step forward, but we are progressing very slowly," Lighthizer said.
The seventh round of negotiations will take place in Mexico from Feb. 26 to March 6.
The House's full interview with Trudeau airs Saturday at 9 a.m.. 9:30 a.m. in Newfoundland.
