Eastern premiers begin trade talks with New England amidst Trump threat to leave NAFTA

Some eastern premiers are stayinghopefulon the first day of trade meetings in Charlottetown with New England governors, amidst threats from U.S. President Donald Trump to terminate NAFTA.

Sunday was the first ofthree days of trade discussions, and talksfocusedon renewable energy and food innovation.

• Premiers, governors to discuss cross-border trade at Charlottetown meeting
• Premier MacLauchlan offers details on regional economic councils

"We have been growing together," said P.E.I. Premier Wade MacLauchlanof Canada's relationship with the U.S. "Of the six New England states, five of them [have]Canada as their top trading partner."

MacLauchlansaid for his part, the discussions will focus on how integrated and prosperousthe relationships between Canada and the U.S. are.

He said he's maintaining a positive outlook in spite of a tweet from U.S. President Donald Trump that threatened to terminate NAFTA.

"I think we have to take in context what the president might say," said MacLauchlan. "If there is a move to rescind NAFTA, it's going to have to be adopted by Congress."

"Alot of the people who are here are very much tied into the real economy," he continued. "I believe on both sides of the border, there's a deep appreciation of how well we've done together and how we can continue to do even better."

'Negotiations are going forward'

Quebec Premier Phillipe Couillard said he shares the sentiment.

"The fact that in Quebec we have completely changed our financial and economic situation gives us both authority, credibility and latitude to go to these negotiations with optimism," said Couillard.

Couillardsaid that in spite of Trump's threats to leaveNAFTA, his own discussions with the New England governors have been positive with an eagerness to update the trade deal.

"I think you have to recognize that the negotiations are going forward," he said.

Renewable energy

For the first time, hundreds ofbusinesses were invited to the conference to develop new cross-border trading
relationships.

Jason Aspin is theCEO of AspinKemp & Associates, acompany that deals with renewable and clean energy, and is one of the business delegatesinvited to speak at the conference.

Aspin said he's unsure of what the new administration in the U.S. will mean for renewable energy.

"How it affects the renewable energy landscape, it's hard to say. Lots of people say there's momentum there now. The world is going that way regardless," he said.

"I think that the states individually have their policies well centred on renewable energy so hopefully it won't make thatbig of an impact."

The primary trade discussions willtake place for most of the day Monday with the conferenceexpected to wrap up with some off-site tours on Tuesday.

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