Trump says he did not come to South Korea to see Canada

SEOUL: In a post on the social media site Truth Social on Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump said he didn’t come to South Korea to see Canada, amid a trade spat with the United States' northern neighbour.

AI Brief

Trump posted on Truth Social that his South Korea visit was not about Canada, amid rising trade tensions.
He recently imposed new tariffs on Canadian goods after a political ad criticised his trade policies.
Canadian PM Carney is in Asia seeking new trade ties and is open to talks, but Trump has cut off negotiations for now.

"For those that are asking, we didn’t come to South Korea to see Canada!" he wrote shortly after arriving in the city of Gyeongju ahead of talks with the presidents of South Korea and China, among other leaders.

Later on Wednesday Trump is set to attend a group dinner whose guests include Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. On Monday, Carney said he was ready to sit down for trade talks with Trump as soon as the U.S. president is prepared to do so.

Last week Trump announced he was cutting off trade talks with Ottawa and announced an additional 10% tariffs on goods from Canada after an Ontario political ad used a snippet of Republican icon and former President Ronald Reagan saying tariffs cause trade wars and economic disaster.

Carney is on his first official visit to Asia, attempting to deepen trade and security ties at a time when Canada is struggling to reduce its overwhelming dependence on the United States and redefine its foreign policy to pursue new markets.

Carney will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping later this week.