Top US diplomat meets counterparts from Mexico, Canada

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AFP, Washington :
Washington’s new top diplomat, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, met his Canadian and Mexican opposite numbers on Wednesday amid concerns over President Donald Trump’s trade policy.
Canada, Mexico and the United States are members of the NAFTA free trade bloc, which Trump has branded a “catastrophe” for American jobs and has threatened to renegotiate.
The new US leader has also insisted that Mexico will pay for the anti-immigration wall he plans to build on America’s southern frontier, possibly through an import tariff.
The continental neighbors are traditionally so close that summits between them have been dubbed the “Tres Amigos” in recent years. Maintaining strong ties will be a key task for Tillerson.
But Mexico, in particular, has been offended by Trump’s talk of paying for the wall, and Canada’s Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland has made it clear that Ottawa does not favor tariffs either.
“Canada would respond appropriately,” she warned at a news conference after her meeting in the State Department.
“We do not know what the position of the United States will be when it comes to the notion of tariffs.”
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