President Donald Trump commented yesterday on the countervailing duties imposed on Canadian softwood lumber imports and on the controversy surrounding United States exports of certain dairy products north of the border.

Said the president:

“We learned that yesterday, frankly, with Canada, where the dairy farmers up in Wisconsin, Upstate New York, different places — a lot of border states in particular — are not able to sell their dairy products into Canada.  And this has been going on for a while, and we’re not going to put up with it.

“And separately, we put a very big tax — we will be putting a very big tariff on lumber — timber — coming into this country. People don’t realize Canada has been very rough on the United States.  Everyone thinks of Canada as being wonderful, and so do I.  I love Canada.  But they’ve outsmarted our politicians for many years, and you people understand that.  So we did institute a very big tariff; we announced it yesterday.  And we’re going to take care of our dairy farmers in Wisconsin, and Upstate New York, and lots of other places.”

To the substance of the agriculture executive order, the president commented:

“Our farmers deserve a government that serves their interest and empowers them to do the hard work that they love to do so much.  And that’s what today’s executive order is all about.  With this order, I’m directing [Agriculture] Secretary [Sonny] Perdue to work with other members of my cabinet to identify and eliminate unnecessary regulations that hurt our nation’s farmers and rural communities.”

Asked by a reporter whether he feared a trade war with Canada, the president responded:

“No, not at all….They have a tremendous surplus with the United States.  Whenever they have a surplus, I have no fear.  By the way, virtually every country has a surplus with the United States.  We have massive trade deficits.  So when we’re the country with the deficits, we have no fear.”