(NAFB News Service) Most Canadians welcome the Democratic sweep of the U.S. Congress, but they also have mixed views on whether American voters’ strong rebuke of the White House will change the largely negative Canadian attitudes held during this ongoing trade war.
When the Democrats take control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate on January 3 they hope to rein in President Trump’s trade regime, which was a strong factor in races in the midterm battleground states.
Jamie Raskin was re-elected as a House Representative for Maryland. Raskin says now that the Democrats are back in control of Congress, a top-of-agenda issue is to put trade and international relationships back on a normal footing.
But getting back to normal will likely require legislative action. And even if Congress introduces a bill, President Trump can block it with a veto. In that case, Congress can override the veto only with a two-thirds vote in both chambers.
Formal trade negotiations with the U.S. have stalled since Canada walked away in August. However, this past week, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said that some progress has been made recently, at least informally. Carney said that Canada was pleased to see that U.S. trade negotiators have removed some of the more inflammatory issues.
Following up on the Prime Minister’s comments, Canada’s Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc said that his government’s overall strategy, to diversify trade, will not change direction in the wake of the U.S. midterm elections.
Canadian Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc.
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Audio provided by NAFB News Service
Audio with Maryland Congressman Jamie Raskin; Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney; and Dominic LeBlanc (leh-BLAHNK), trade minister for Canada.
