 "Canada's Carney says Trump raised '51st state' matter during March call")
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has revealed that US President Donald Trump raised the matter of Canada becoming the 51st state during a call with him in March.
According to a report by the Globe and Mail, Carney had skipped mentioning this detail after his call with Trump on March 28. “The president brings this up all the time. He brought it up yesterday. He brought it up before,” the Canadian prime minister said during a press conference on Thursday.
The US President, on several occasions, has said that Canada should come under the ambit of the US and become its 51st state. Last month, Trump said he is serious about wanting Canada to become the 51st State in an interview with Fox News. “I think Canada would be much better off being the 51st State because we lose $200 billion a year with Canada. And I’m not going to let that happen,” he said.
Meanwhile, the new prime minister, Carney, has reiterated that Canada will ’never’ become part of the US. “To be clear, as I’ve said to anyone who’s raised this issue in private or in public, including the president, it will never happen,” he said.
‘Canada needs US more’
Trump said Wednesday that Canada would “cease to exist” if it weren’t for the United States — comments that came just days before Canadians are set to vote in an election dominated by Trump’s remarks on the country’s economy and sovereignty.
“I have to be honest, as a state, it works great," the US president said.
Trump also suggested Wednesday that he might increase import taxes on cars from Canada. Trump has a 25 per cent tariff on autos, although there are some exemptions related to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade, and automakers are seeking other policy changes to minimise the tariff burden. Trump has separate 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods — ostensibly to address drug smuggling into the US.
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