European Union Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom on Thursday defended the Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister after President Donald Trump criticized her, CBC News reports.
Malmstrom told CBC Radio host Chris Hall in an interview set to air on Saturday that “You have a fantastic chief negotiator in [Chrystia] Freeland. I think she is doing an excellent job under very tough conditions.”
Trump said in a press conference on Wednesday that the U.S. is "very unhappy with the negotiations and the negotiating style of Canada,” and that “we don't like their representative very much.”
Malmstrom added that Trump’s statement reflects the increasing difficulty of “dealing with the Americans,” and that she and Freeland “talk regularly” as the EU and Canada work to reach separate agreements with the United States.
“I don't think I have advice to give her, but we are sharing our experiences because it's more important than ever that the European Union and Canada are sticking together,” she said.
The commissioner said that America’s behavior has driven other countries to approach Canada and the EU for trade partnerships.
"Lately we have seen there are increasing disagreements between many countries around the world and the way is U.S. is turning very unilateral," she said.
"More and more countries are coming out and want to work with the EU and Canada to strengthen the multilateral relationship."
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