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WASHINGTON — Any chance of a quick deal on a renegotiated NAFTA has been scuppered by U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to end an exemption for Canada and Mexico from crippling tariffs on steel and aluminum exports, Canadian government insiders say.

Indeed, one well-placed, senior official said the chances of striking any deal on NAFTA, ever, have “just fallen through the floor.”

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Trump, meanwhile, resurrected Friday an idea he’s floated before — negotiating separate bilateral trade pacts with Canada and Mexico if no deal can be reached on modernizing the trilateral North American Free Trade Agreement.

But coming one day after Trump antagonized both countries by using national security concerns to justify imposing tariffs of 25 per cent on steel and 10 per cent on aluminum on the U.S.’s NAFTA partners, Canadian officials said the renewed pitch for bilateral deals is a non-starter.