Apparently unfazed by President Donald Trump's recent verbal attack on Canadian dairy, Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay is looking forward to meeting his US counterpart Sonny Purdue later this week.
During their meeting on Canada’s Prince Edward Island, the two ministers will focus on the close relationship that traditionally exists between their neighboring countries.
“The agricultural partnership between Canada and the United States is a prime example of how our two nations are stronger together. This relationship enables us to bring safe, top-quality food to tables in North America and around the world,” MacAulay said in a statement on Monday,
He also said that the two countries’ agriculture sectors were “more interconnected than ever before, contributing to millions of jobs on both sides of the border,” and underscored the benefits of trade and NAFTA.
After leaving the Quebec summit to meet North Korea’s Kim Jong-un in Singapore, Trump slammed remarks by the Canadian Prime Minister at the G7 news conference, in which the latter warned that Canada would not be pushed around, as "very dishonest and weak."
Trudeau had earlier described the US metal tariffs as "insulting" and announced retaliatory measures.
Before leaving the summit, dubbed "G6+Trump," referring to a differing position of the United States on a number of key issues, President Trump, who angered America’s European allies by imposing tariffs on European steel and aluminum imports, fired threats against Canada’s auto and dairy industries.
READ MORE: Trump: 'I Love Canada, but They Treat Us Unfairly on Trade'
Ahead of the G7 summit, President Trump removed an exemption on 25 percent tariffs for steel and 10 percent tariffs for aluminum from Canada, Mexico, and the European Union, prompting the bloc and Canada to respond with a series of retaliatory measures.