Trump, Trudeau trade barbs over tariffs

President Donald Trump today tore into Canada for being "highly restrictive" on trade and treating American farmers "very poorly", a day after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described as "unacceptable" the US' hefty tariffs on steel and alumunium imports.

The Trump administration removed the exemption to Canada and Mexico from his new 25 per cent tariff on import of steel and 15 per cent on aluminum yesterday.

Trudeau slammed the US for the move, saying "these tariffs are totally unacceptable".

He twitted that he was hoping that "common sense" would prevail.

"Americans remain our partners, friends, and allies. This is not about the American people. We have to believe that at some point their common sense will prevail. But we see no sign of that in this action today by the US administration," he tweeted.

Trump shot back today, slamming Canada for being "highly restrictive" on trade.

"Canada has treated our Agricultural business and Farmers very poorly for a very long period of time" Trump tweeted.

"Highly restrictive on Trade! They must open their markets and take down their trade barriers! They report a really high surplus on trade with us. Do Timber & Lumber in US?" he wrote.

Trump also issued an unusual late-night statement criticising Canada.

"The United States has been taken advantage of for many decades on trade. Those days are over. Earlier today, this message was conveyed to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada: The United State will agree to a fair deal, or there will be no deal at all," he said.

Trump and Trudeau are scheduled to see each other next week in Canada, which is hosting the G-7 Summit.