During a meeting with the Trump administration’s top economic officials Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin advised President Donald Trump against imposing tariffs on Canada, ABC News reported Tuesday.
According to senior administration officials and sources close to the White House who spoke with ABC, Mnuchin pointed to the U.S.’s surpluses with Canada as his defense: a $2 billion steel surplus and a $26 billion services surplus.
The suggestion was met with divided responses from aides in the meeting, which included National Economic Council Larry Kudlow, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, trade representative Robert Lighthizer and Chief of Staff John Kelly according to ABC. Trump is reportedly still “deciding on what to do about Canada” one official told ABC.
Mnuchin’s attempts to change Trump’s mind on imposting tariffs on one of the U.S.’s closest allies comes just days before Trump is set to attend the G-7 summit in Canada on Friday, where he’ll likely have to answer for his recent moves that have ignited fears of a global trade war.
Read ABC’s full report here.