Canada not ‘constructive’ in efforts to secure U.S. trade deal, envoy says

U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra on Thursday said Canada’s response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs and rhetoric has not been “constructive” toward securing a new trade and security deal with the U.S.

Speaking at a lunch event hosted by the Halifax Chamber of Commerce, Hoekstra said the phrase “elbows up,” used by Canadian politicians and the public to protest the U.S., is “anti-American” and took issue with the phrase “trade war” to describe the economic tension.

“It is very, very difficult to find Canadians who are passionate about the American-Canadian relationship,” he said. “You ran a campaign where it was anti-American, ‘elbows up,’ ‘me too.’ It was an anti-American campaign. That has continued. That’s disappointing.

“If you think that America is at war with Ca