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After Admitting Uncertainty Over Trade Figure, Trump Repeats False Claim About Canada Trump Repeats False Claim About Canada After Admitting Uncertainty Over Figure
(about 3 hours later)
WASHINGTON — President Trump repeated his false assertion on Thursday that the United States runs a trade deficit with Canada, the morning after telling Republican donors at a private dinner that he had knowingly insisted on that claim in a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada without knowing if it was true. WASHINGTON — President Trump repeated on Thursday his false assertion that the United States runs a trade deficit with Canada, the morning after privately telling Republican donors that he had deliberately insisted on that claim in a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada without knowing whether it was true.
“We do have a Trade Deficit with Canada, as we do with almost all countries (some of them massive),” Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter. The tweet came the morning after audio surfaced of him boasting that he pressed that point in a meeting with Mr. Trudeau even though he had “no idea” whether it was true. Mr. Trump’s private admission to having a loose grasp of the facts and his public refusal to back down from the incorrect statement — the United States has an overall surplus in trade with Canada — were vivid illustrations of the president’s cavalier attitude about the truth, and a reminder of how that approach has taken hold at the White House.
“P.M. Justin Trudeau of Canada, a very good guy, doesn’t like saying that Canada has a Surplus vs. the U.S.(negotiating), but they do,” Mr. Trump added. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, said Mr. Trump had chosen his figures selectively in the conversation with Mr. Trudeau and in a subsequent Twitter post that repeated the claim. The president was referring only to the trade of goods, which ignores the larger trade surplus in services the United States exports to Canada, Ms. Sanders said.
And in a briefing with reporters, she acknowledged that Mr. Trump had fabricated an anecdote he told the donors about unfair trading practices — Japanese officials, he claimed, conduct a test on American cars by dropping a bowling ball on their hoods from 20 feet high, and those that dent are barred from being imported.
“Obviously, he’s joking about this particular test,” Ms. Sanders told reporters who confronted her about the veracity of the tale. “But it illustrates the creative ways some countries are able to keep American goods out of their markets.”
Her explanation came two weeks after Hope Hicks, the White House communications director, told lawmakers on Capitol Hill that she sometimes told white lies on behalf of Mr. Trump.
The latest instance of Mr. Trump bending the truth emerged after The Washington Post published an account of the president boasting about his disingenuous exchange with Mr. Trudeau at a fund-raising dinner on Wednesday night in Missouri. On Thursday, the president refused to back down from the erroneous claim about the trade balance between the United States and Canada.
“We do have a Trade Deficit with Canada, as we do with almost all countries (some of them massive),” Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter. In an audio recording from the dinner obtained by The Post, a transcript of which was published on Thursday, Mr. Trump recounted how he pressed that point in a meeting with Mr. Trudeau even though he had “no idea” whether it was true.
“P.M. Justin Trudeau of Canada, a very good guy, doesn’t like saying that Canada has a Surplus vs. the U.S. (negotiating), but they do,” Mr. Trump added in his tweet.
The United States ran a trade surplus of $600 million in goods and services with Canada in January, according to the Commerce Department, a metric that reflects the difference between what the United States exports to Canada and what it imports from that country. In 2016, the United States had a trade surplus with Canada of $12.5 billion, according to a fact sheet posted on the website of the United States trade representative.The United States ran a trade surplus of $600 million in goods and services with Canada in January, according to the Commerce Department, a metric that reflects the difference between what the United States exports to Canada and what it imports from that country. In 2016, the United States had a trade surplus with Canada of $12.5 billion, according to a fact sheet posted on the website of the United States trade representative.
But during a fund-raiser for a Senate candidate in Missouri on Wednesday evening, Mr. Trump recounted ignoring that reality in a meeting with Mr. Trudeau, as the prime minister repeatedly pushed back. The Washington Post obtained the audio and posted a transcript on its website. But during the fund-raiser for a Senate candidate in Missouri, Mr. Trump said he had refused to concede the point in a meeting with Mr. Trudeau, as the prime minister repeatedly pushed back.
“ ‘He said, no, no, we have no trade deficit with you, we have none; Donald, please,’ ” Mr. Trump told the donors according to the transcript, referring to Mr. Trudeau, calling him a “nice guy, good-looking.” “He said, ‘No, no, we have no trade deficit with you, we have none; Donald, please,’” Mr. Trump told the donors according to the transcript, calling Mr. Trudeau a “nice guy, good-looking.”
“I said, ‘Wrong, Justin, you do.’ I didn’t even know,” Mr. Trump said. “I had no idea. I just said, ‘You’re wrong.’ You know why? Because we’re so stupid.”“I said, ‘Wrong, Justin, you do.’ I didn’t even know,” Mr. Trump said. “I had no idea. I just said, ‘You’re wrong.’ You know why? Because we’re so stupid.”
The episode was a vivid example of Mr. Trump’s strained relationship with the facts, and a rare glimpse of the president acknowledging that he has a cavalier attitude about the truth, sometimes obfuscating or misrepresenting in order to gain the upper hand in an argument. Mr. Trump’s retelling drew rebukes from some diplomats and lawmakers who argued that it reflected a dangerous penchant by the commander in chief to misrepresent the truth.
It was particularly extraordinary given that it reflected Mr. Trump’s willingness to dissemble even with a close ally of the United States, albeit one that he has taken on aggressively in recent months as he presses to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement and secure terms that are more advantageous to the United States. “The president’s admission that he’s literally making things up while speaking face-to-face with a world leader should stop us all in our tracks,” said Representative Eliot L. Engel, Democrat of New York and the ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Committee. “How can any other government — ally or adversary — have any confidence in what our president says when he admits to lying?”
During the conversation, the president said he and Mr. Trudeau had argued repeatedly about the trade balance, with the prime minister saying, “Nope, we have no trade deficit,” and Mr. Trump ultimately sending an aide to, “Check, because I can’t believe it.” The account was particularly extraordinary given that it reflected Mr. Trump’s willingness to dissemble even with a close ally of the United States, albeit one that he has taken on aggressively in recent months as he presses to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement and secure terms that are more advantageous to the United States.
He then claimed that his contention had been validated, appearing to quote an aide he said had told him, “ ‘Well sir you’re actually right. We have no deficit, but that doesn’t include energy and timber. But when you do, we lose $17 billion a year.’ It’s incredible.” During the conversation, the president said he and Mr. Trudeau had tangled repeatedly about the trade balance, with the prime minister saying, “Nope, we have no trade deficit,” and Mr. Trump ultimately sending an aide to, “Check, because I can’t believe it.”
It was not clear what Mr. Trump was referring to. The United States did have a goods trade deficit of $12.1 billion with Canada in 2016 — meaning that it imported more Canadian goods than it exported to the nation — but the surplus in services exchanged was $24.6 billion, more than double, more than making up the difference and resulting in an overall surplus. The president then claimed that his contention had been validated, appearing to quote an aide he said had told him, “‘Well sir you’re actually right. We have no deficit, but that doesn’t include energy and timber. But when you do, we lose $17 billion a year.’ It’s incredible.”
Trade with the United States is a critical part of Canada’s export-dependent economy. But the actions and statements from the Trump administration concerning the two countries’ economic relationship have provoked equal parts anxiety, puzzlement and anger within Canada. Ms. Sanders repeated that rationale during her briefing on Thursday, saying that Mr. Trump had been “accurate” in his assertion to Mr. Trudeau. In a tweet, she later said both she and the president had been referring to the more than $17 billion trade deficit in goods last year between the United States and Canada.
Census Bureau data shows that, when trade in services was counted, the surplus was $2.8 billion. While Mr. Trump has focused almost exclusively on trade in manufactured goods, his advisers note that omitting trade in services produces a skewed picture of the United States’ standing.
“Focusing only on the trade in goods alone ignores the United States’ comparative advantage in services,” the president’s Council of Economic Advisers wrote last month in a report.
Trade with the United States is a critical part of Canada’s export-dependent economy. But the actions and statements from the Trump administration concerning the economic relationship between the two countries have provoked equal parts anxiety, puzzlement and anger in Canada.
Marc Garneau, who is the chairman of the Canada-U.S. relations committee in Mr. Trudeau’s cabinet, rejected on Thursday the president’s deficit claim.
“At this point, it’s very important to point out that there is over $2 billion a day of trade between our two countries and overall annually the United States has a small surplus with Canada,” Mr. Garneau told reporters in Montreal.
The account of the president’s slapdash approach to statistics comes after a dispute between Canada and the United States over potentially crippling duties on steel and aluminum that the president introduced last week.The account of the president’s slapdash approach to statistics comes after a dispute between Canada and the United States over potentially crippling duties on steel and aluminum that the president introduced last week.
The sanctions were temporarily suspended in Canada’s case, pending renegotiation of Nafta. Officials in Mr. Trump’s administration insisted that the United States runs a steel trade deficit with Canada even though statistics from both governments show that trade is balanced. The sanctions were temporarily suspended in Canada’s case, pending renegotiation of Nafta. Officials in Mr. Trump’s administration insisted that the United States runs a steel trade deficit with Canada even though data from both governments show that trade is balanced.
Mr. Trump’s administration has imposed tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber, and more recently Canadian paper used mainly as newsprint. And a trade action over a new Canadian jetliner that was ultimately dropped threatened the future of Bombardier, one of Canada’s largest industrial companies.
Mr. Trump’s top trade negotiators have presented a list of demands for revising Nafta that Canada has declared unacceptable. Mr. Trudeau has said that Canada is prepared to abandon Nafta rather than accept a “bad deal” and Mr. Trump has similarly threatened to withdraw from the pact.Mr. Trump’s top trade negotiators have presented a list of demands for revising Nafta that Canada has declared unacceptable. Mr. Trudeau has said that Canada is prepared to abandon Nafta rather than accept a “bad deal” and Mr. Trump has similarly threatened to withdraw from the pact.
In a statement, the Canadian government noted that the United States trade representative has said there was a surplus in goods and services trade in 2016. Bruce A. Heyman, the United States ambassador to Canada under President Barack Obama, said that Mr. Trump’s approach was “creating a crisis where none existed before.”
Mr. Trudeau and his cabinet have generally avoided directly criticizing Mr. Trump, but the president’s remarks were greeted with bafflement by some Canadians. “Lying to your friends only hurts the relationship,” Mr. Heyman wrote on Twitter. “Canada has been there for us thru thick and thin. How can you just casually damage this realtionship?”
“I thought it was a dumb comment but I wasn’t surprised,” said Mark Warner, an international trade lawyer in Toronto. “If it came from any other world leader, it would be troubling. But pretty obviously he’s not a details guy and he’s kind of got a negotiating strategy of being in the moment.”
Some Americans denounced the president’s admission. That included a series of posts on Twitter by Bruce A. Heyman, the United States ambassador to Canada under President Barack Obama.
“Creating a crisis where none existed before is no way to run our country,” Mr. Heyman posted. “Canada is our best friend and don’t ever forget it! We should never put the relationship at risk.”
He added: “When I left it was the best relationship the U.S.A. had in the world. The President is casually throwing Canada under the bus and this is just wrong.”