Trudeau and Trump talk border, softwood lumber and summits in midday call

Border co-operation and softwood lumber were discussed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Donald Trump during a phone call between the two leaders on Thursday.

According to an account provided by the Prime Minister’s Office, Trudeau and Trump “discussed a range of bilateral relations issues, including border co-operation, moving forward on the softwood lumber file, and the upcoming G7 and G20 summits.”

The prime minister and president “also looked forward to working together on the Canada-United States Council for Advancement of Women Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders,” which was announced when Trudeau and Trump met at the White House last week.

A senior Liberal said the phone call was conducted at the request of the Canadian government.

NAFTA ‘tweak’

The last agreement on Canadian exports of softwood lumber to the United States expired in 2015. A one-year moratorium on further litigation expired last October.

“I’m really pleased to say that, as the prime minister did in Washington last week, he raised again the issue of softwood lumber,” Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters on Parliament Hill. “So we are working away at that.”

At a news conference after their meeting in Washington Feb. 13, the prime minister and the president conveyed their shared concerns for economic growth and national security, though Trump did suggest he would be looking to “tweak” the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Since then, the arrival of asylum seekers crossing the border into Canada from the United States has emerged as a significant point of debate in Ottawa.

Article source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-trump-phone-call-1.3995675?cmp=rss