Canada’s Palestine statehood stance may impact trade deal, says Trump

President Donald Trump said Canada’s announcement that it would recognise a Palestinian state would make it “very hard” for the US to reach a trade agreement with its northern neighbour.

Trump’s threat is the latest way he has sought to use his trade war to coerce countries on unrelated issues and is a swing from the ambivalence he has expressed about other countries making such a move.

The Republican president said this week that he did not mind British Prime Minister Keir Starmer taking a position on the issue of formally recognising Palestinian statehood. And last week, he said French President Emmanuel Macron's similar move was “not going to change anything”. — AP