Mullin says Canada is still US 'ally' despite trade fight
Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) on Sunday weighed in on the U.S.-Canada relationship amid tensions over trade between the two countries.
“Senator, has the United States lost Canada as an ally?” NBC’s Kristen Welker asked Mullin on “Meet the Press.”
“No. We haven't lost … Canada as an ally. They need us more than we need them. The fact is, we have been subsidizing their economy by the tunes of billions of dollars every single year, and they know that,” Mullin responded.
During a press conference on Thursday, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said that the "old" economic relationship between the U.S. and Canada is “over,” pledged that his country would respond “forcefully” and said that there is nothing “off the table” over an American plan to impose extra tariffs on Canada and other countries.
“The old relationship we had with the United States based on deepening integration of our economies and tight security and military cooperation is over,” said Carney, who recently became his country’s prime minister, later adding that “we will need to dramatically reduce our reliance on the United States.”
Carney’s comments followed President Trump announcing a day before that he is going to impose a 25 percent tariff on foreign car imports, set to go into effect on April 2.
“If you want to have a relationship with the United States, it’s going to be an even playing field, a two-way street,” Mullin said Sunday.