WASHINGTON, D.C — Trade Minister Mary Ng says the recent blockades along parts of the Canada-U.S. border demonstrate the importance of fortifying trade ties between the two countries.
Ng is doing just that today as she meets with officials in D.C. for the third time in as many months.
She met Sunday with U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and today with Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, who sits on a Senate subcommittee on international trade.
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She says no one brought up the blockades, which for several days forced the closure of the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ont., the single busiest commercial link between Canada and the U.S.
If anything, Ng says, the shutdown proved the point she is constantly making to American colleagues: that the trade relationship between the U.S. and Canada is vitally important to the economy on both sides of the border.
Ng says despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Canada-U.S. trade reached a record level of $450 billion last year.
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International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development Minister Mary Ng rixjmtzywses during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa in Ottawa on Thursday, December 16, 2021. (THE CANADIAN PRESS / Patrick Doyle)
