Trudeau may not attend CUSMA trade summit in DC, citing tariffs and COVID-19

On Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that he's unsure about whether or not he will attend a summit to celebrate the new North American trade treaty in Washington, D.C., according to the New York Times.

Prime Minister Trudeau cited potential US tariffs on aluminum as the reason for his hesitation to attend the event.

"We're still in discussions with the Americans about whether a trilateral summit next week makes sense," Trudeau said at a news conference. "We're obviously concerned about the proposed issue of tariffs on aluminum and steel that the Americans have floated recently."

President of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has stated that he would like to see Trudeau in attendance, Obrador is scheduled to meet with US President Trump next week as well.

The new United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (CUSMA) treaty was finally agreed upon last year and has since been implemented into practice as of July 1. Amid trade negotiations, U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum being imported from Canada and Mexico was a hot subject of debate. The new deal will replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Robert Lighthizer, a US Trade Representative now wants the domestic producers' to request that a 10 percent duty be reapplied to Canadian aluminum being imported to help their economy combat the "surge" of recent imports.

Trudeau also addressed his concerns about the, "health situation and the coronavirus reality that is still hitting all three of our countries" as another major factor in deciding whether or not he will travel to Washington.

The spread of the novel coronavirus has slowed steadily in Canada over the past eight weeks, but new cases are spiking across the United States.

As of June 2, Canada had recorded a total of 104,772 coronavirus cases, with 68,345 recovered and 8,642 deaths.