FILE PHOTO - Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland attends the annual Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany February 15, 2019. REUTERS/Andreas Gebert

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Saturday she had made clear in a meeting with U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi at the Munich Security Conference the importance of the U.S. lifting tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada.

Freeland said that while Canada is now focused on its domestic ratification process for the U.S.-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade deal, it remains strongly opposed to the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum.

“The Canada position is now that we have concluded (USMCA) that is all the more reason why the tariffs must be lifted,” she said on a conference call with reporters.