--- description: President Trump criticized the trade polices of Canada on Thursday. title: President Trump Blasts Canadian Dairy Farmers, Again image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltddd95bbc8d3adeee/6988ba252dce0172439ec41a/trudeau-trump1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [White House](/tag/white-house/) ## White House Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # President Trump Blasts Canadian Dairy Farmers, Again by [Aric Jenkins](/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 20, 2017 7:55 PM CUT  President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau participate in a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington on Feb. 13, 2017. President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau participate in a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington on Feb. 13, 2017.Alex Wong—Getty Images by [Aric Jenkins](/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 20, 2017 7:55 PM CUT [President Trump](http://time.com/4748105/donald-trump-trade-deals/ "undefined") criticized the trade polices of [Canada](http://time.com/4728289/canada-welcomes-tech-companies-spooked-trump/ "undefined") on Thursday, blasting measures the country took to protect several of its industries which Trump said hurts U.S. farm workers. “What they’ve done to our dairy farm workers is a disgrace. It’s a disgrace,” the president said, reading from handwritten notes during an Oval Office memorandum signing. Trump took issue in particular with Canadian measures that he said put farmers out of business in Wisconsin and New York. “We can’t let Canada or anybody else take advantage and do what they did to our workers and to our farmers,” the president said, adding that U.S. lumber, timber and energy industries have been harmed by Canadian policy, as well. Trump ultimately pegged the blame on the [North American Free Trade Agreement](http://time.com/4051371/donald-trump-nafta/ "undefined") , calling it a “disaster” for the country. His remarks echoed comments [he made Tuesday](http://time.com/4745273/donald-trump-canada-dairy-trade-industry/ "undefined") in Wisconsin vowing to address the “very unfair things” that Canada has done to U.S. dairy farmers. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau fired back in response to Trump’s comments Thursday. “The U.S. has a $400 million dairy surplus with Canada so it’s not Canada that’s the challenge here,” he told [Bloomberg](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-04-20/canada-s-not-the-challenge-for-u-s-dairy-trudeau-says "undefined"). “Let’s not pretend we’re in a global free market when it comes to agriculture.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4749191/donald-trump-canada-dairy-farmers/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4749191/donald-trump-canada-dairy-farmers/"},"headline":"President Trump Blasts Canadian Dairy Farmers, Again","datePublished":"2017-04-20T19:55:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:31:50.369Z","description":"President Trump criticized the trade polices of Canada on Thursday.","url":"https://time.com/4749191/donald-trump-canada-dairy-farmers/","keywords":["White House","Canada","free-trade","Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltddd95bbc8d3adeee/6988ba252dce0172439ec41a/trudeau-trump1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Aric Jenkins","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltddd95bbc8d3adeee/6988ba252dce0172439ec41a/trudeau-trump1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Donald Trump Hosts Canadian PM Justin Trudeau At The White House","caption":"WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 13: U.S. President Donald Trump (R) and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau participate in a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House on February 13, 2017 in Washington, DC. 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