Mr. Speaker, the Minister of International Trade met with the U.S. trade representative last week. It was noted that she “reiterated that it was in the best interest of both countries to reach an agreement on softwood lumber.” Instead of coming out of that meeting with a win, such as making progress on an agreement, on Friday we learned that U.S. tariffs are set to double on our softwood exports.
On trade, every single file we have with the U.S. is getting worse. Why is the minister failing so spectacularly to manage the trading relationship with the new U.S. administration?