Six US states invite Canadian provincial leaders to discuss Trump tariffs

By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The governors of six U.S. states said on Monday they have invited Canadian provincial leaders to discuss the impact of tariffs imposed by Donald Trump while being critical of the measures taken by the U.S. president.

Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey, Maine Governor Janet Mills, New York Governor Kathy Hochul, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont, Rhode Island Governor Daniel McKee and Vermont Governor Phil Scott extended the invitation to the premiers of six Canadian provinces: New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island and Quebec, the statement shared by the office of the Massachusetts governor added.

The governor of Vermont is from Trump's Republican Party. The other five governors are Democrats.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

Trump, who muses about annexing Canada, has imposed tariffs on some Canadian goods after taking office in January.

His actions and remarks have not gone down well in Canada, where Prime Minister Mark Carney has said Trump wanted to break the country. Carney, who won the recent Canadian elections, has regularly termed the U.S. actions as a betrayal and says Canada must reduce its reliance on the United States, which takes 75% of all Canadian exports.

KEY QUOTES

The invitation to the Canadian premiers by the six northeastern U.S. states was for a discussion in Boston that would include talks about "the impacts of President Trump's tariffs and how American and Canadian leaders can continue to work together to maintain strong trade relations," the statement from the U.S. states added.

The Massachusetts governor said Trump's tariffs were "undermining" U.S.-Canada ties while the governor of Maine called Trump's tariffs "haphazard" and his rhetoric "harmful."

"As I have said in the past, I don't believe increasing tariffs on our friends and close allies is in the best interest of Vermont or the United States," Vermont's Republican governor said.

CONTEXT

Carney said last week he was expecting "difficult but constructive" talks with Trump.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Jasper Ward in Washington and Ismail Shakil in Ottawa; Editing by Chris Reese and Andrea Ricci)

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