Author: Craig Lord

Canada and other countries should not give up on doing business with the United States, the country’s new ambassador to Canada and former ambassador to the United Nations said Friday at the B7 summit conference in Ottawa.U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra told the audience of major business and political figures that the U.S. is “open for business” — even as President Donald Trump digs in on his claim that he will not lift tariffs on Canada, and after he told Prime Minister Mark Carney there was nothing he could say to change that.”America is open to doing business. We’re open to doing business with you, our friends,” Hoekstra said.The ambassador also claimed the president is moving at a rapid pace on his agenda. “We have never experienced anything like this in American politics,” he said.The B7 is a partner conference to the G7 summit happening in Alberta next month.’This too shall pass’: HaleyNikki Haley, Trump’s former rival for the Republican presidential nomination, was also among the key speakers at the event, where business leaders and diplomats assembled to chart a way through global trade uncertainty.Her comments come as Trump stokes instability in the global trade order through tariffs, forcing some businesses to reorient their supply chains away from the American market.”Don’t assume that the U.S. doesn’t want to do business with your country,” said Haley, a former state governor and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. “They actually do want to do business with your country. It’s just messy right now.”Nikki Haley, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and current vice-chair of public and government affairs at public relations firm Edelman, said the turbulent trade period between the two countries would pass.