Montreal (AFP)

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will not be traveling to Washington this week to celebrate with President Donald Trump and his Mexican counterpart Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador the entry into force of the new North American free trade treaty, his cabinet said. Monday.

"Although there have been recent discussions regarding a possible Canadian participation, the Prime Minister will be in Ottawa this week to hold scheduled meetings of the Council of Ministers and participate in a long-scheduled sitting of Parliament," said AFP the office of the Prime Minister, confirming the words of the Mexican president.

The latter had announced that Mr. Trudeau could "not attend this Wednesday meeting". The Prime Minister of Canada has, however, agreed to visit Mexico "as soon as possible," said Lopez Obrador on Twitter.

The Mexican president, for his first trip abroad, is due to meet his American counterpart Donald Trump in Washington on Wednesday.

On Friday, Trudeau said he was hesitant to go to Washington due in part to concerns over possible tariffs that the United States could re-impose on Canadian aluminum.

Another source of concern according to Mr. Trudeau, the "health situation and the coronavirus which still strikes" the three countries, while the United States is the most affected in the world by the pandemic and listed Monday more than 2.8 million cases and 130,000 deaths.

The new free trade agreement (AEUMC) binding the United States, Canada and Mexico entered into force Wednesday at the time when the borders between the three countries are partially closed because of pandemic of Covid-19.

It replaces by modernizing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) which came into force in 1994.

In June 2018, during the renegotiation of the Alena, Donald Trump had not hesitated to impose punitive tariffs on Canadian aluminum, causing the amazement of his historic ally.

© 2020 AFP