WASHINGTON—There is good news and bad news for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in U.S. President Donald Trump’s choice for chief economic adviser.The bad news first. Trump’s new director of the National Economic Council, conservative economic pundit Larry Kudlow, two weeks ago called Trudeau a “left-wing crazy guy.”The good news, which is probably more important: Kudlow has been a staunch ally of Trudeau’s trade agenda and an enthusiastic advocate of harmonious economic relations with Canada.In appearances on CNBC business television and on his radio show this month, Kudlow has forcefully defended the North American Free Trade Agreement — “NAFTA going down, which could come after (the steel and aluminum tariffs), would be a terrible thing for our economy,” he said on CNBC on March 2 — and free trade more broadly: “I still feel the more free trade we have, the better we are.”As Trump was contemplating steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada, Kudlow said on CNBC: “NAFTA is the key. And unfortunately we’re going after a major NAFTA ally, and perhaps America’s greatest ally, namely Canada. Even with this left-wing crazy guy Trudeau, they’re still our pals. They’re still our pals. Why are we going after them?”Kudlow is replacing Gary Cohn, another supporter of free trade, who resigned last week after Trump decided to implement the tariffs over his opposition. There had been some concern among Canada’s trade advocates that Trump would replace Cohn with someone more aligned with his own protectionist instincts. Instead, he chose an ardent free-trader. Kudlow, a proponent of conservative “supply-side” economic theory that favours tax cuts, was an economic official in the Ronald Reagan administration that initiated Canada-U.S. free trade talks.It is not certain, of course, how much influence Kudlow will have with Trump — nor how forcefully he wil ...
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