Former vice president Mike Pence said Sunday the U.S.-Canada trade fight that erupted this weekend poses new risks for the economy, with American consumers already struggling with high costs.
“We hear about the issue of affordability right now,” Pence told CNN’s “State of the Union.” “I think the last thing we need right now, as our economy is getting back on its feet, is a trade war with Canada.”
U.S. tariffs of 50 percent took effect Saturday on an array of Canadian products, including whisky and hockey gear, after the collapse of trade talks.
Pence, speaking via video from Kyiv, where he was traveling to mark the 35th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence, noted there has been “hot rhetoric” from both President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
In a move analysts say shows the limits of Trump’s aggressive trade strategy, Carney vowed to match the U.S. tariffs “dollar for dollar” as he walked away from the talks.
Pence said he hoped, for “the sake of American families,” that “what we’re looking at here is negotiation and not confrontation in a trade war.”
“That’s how I would advise the president: Drive a hard bargain. But let’s pursue free trade with free nations, most especially our trading partners to the north,” he said.
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