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US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday that the United States and Canada were likely to end up in a “good place” on trade but warned Ottawa not to start a political fight ahead of coming talks on the US-Mexico-Canada free trade deal.
Speaking in a CNBC interview on Wednesday, Bessent also said he was disappointed by Europe’s major trade with India and defended US President Donald Trump’s decision to raise tariffs on South Korean goods.
The European Union on Tuesday finalised a long-delayed trade deal with India that aims to boost two-way trade and reduce the bloc’s reliance on the United States amid growing global trade tensions.
Bessent said the deal showed the EU put trade ahead of the interests of the Ukrainian people, noting that Europe had been buying refined products made in India with sanctioned Russian oil supplies, and had been unwilling to match higher US tariffs on Indian goods because they were separately negotiating a trade agreement.
The deal is expected to double EU exports to India by 2032 by eliminating or reducing tariffs on 96.6 per cent of traded goods by value, and will lead to savings of €4 billion (US$4.8 billion) in duties for European companies, the EU said.
Asked whether this deal and others among countries excluding the United States would threaten the US, Bessent said, “They should do what’s best for themselves, but I will tell you, I found, I find the Europeans very disappointing.”
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