Trump Discusses NAFTA, Middle East in Phone Call With Trudeau

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in a phone call on Monday discussed the advances in the North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations and exchanged views on the current situation in the Middle East, the prime minister's office said in a press release.

"The leaders discussed the progress being made in the North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations and the possibility of bringing negotiations to a prompt conclusion," the release stated on Monday.

Trump and Trudeau also spoke about the recent developments in the Middle East, the release added.

The White House also said in a press release that Trump discussed with Justin Trudeau the significant need to quickly conclude NAFTA renegotiations.

"President Donald J. Trump spoke today with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada to address the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement," the release said on Monday. "President Trump underscored the importance of quickly concluding an agreement."

Earlier, the Canadian prime minister said that Ottawa did not link together the tariffs and the negotiations for NAFTA, noting that Canadian government was "happy to continue" to move forward on the negotiations.

Last week, US media reported that House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said the White House would need to notify Congress of a new NAFTA agreement by May 17 in order to have enough time to pass the measure before year’s end.

Trump has threatened to withdraw the United States from NAFTA if a better agreement is not negotiated with Canada and Mexico.