WASHINGTON — A Republican congressman says Canada has committed “economic terrorism” by imposing tariffs on U.S. agricultural products.

“We knew that Europe, China, Canada and Mexico would go after American ag. That’s how they try to take us down. This is, I think, economic terrorism in a way,” Wisconsin Rep. Sean Duffy said on Fox News on Wednesday. “They want to shock us into submission by going after our ag instead of saying you know what, let’s reduce barriers.”

Canada imposed its tariffs on more than 200 U.S. products, including cucumbers, orange juice and beef, in response to President Donald Trump’s own tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum.

The remarks from Duffy were the most inflammatory uttered about Canada’s trade practices by any Republican member of Congress in the Trump era. Many of them have been sympathetic to Canada’s position.

Duffy spoke a day after the Trump administration announced a $12 billion aid package for farmers who have been hurt by the retaliation. Farmers and several farm-state Republican senators denounced the package, saying Trump should pursue free trade rather than a cycle of protectionism and welfare payments.

Trump has expressed increasing frustration with critics of his tariffs, among them many members of his own party. In a speech on Tuesday, he asked farmers to “just be a little patient.” In tweets on Wednesday, he criticized tariff critics as “weak” and accused them of undermining his negotiating position.

“When you have people snipping at your heels during a negotiation, it will only take longer to make a deal, and the deal will never be as good as it could have been with unity,” he wrote. “Negotiations are going really well, be cool. The end result will be worth it!”

Some companies have already taken a major hit from the tariffs. Shares of General Motors and Fiat Chrysler fell sharply on Wednesday after they cut their profit forecasts in response to tariff-related costs.

Trump met at the White House on Wednesday with Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission. Trump has been threatening to impose hefty tariffs on European cars; the Washington Post reported that he indeed wants to impose them, despite warnings from his own advisers and every corner of the U.S. industry.

Trump offered conciliatory words at the beginning of their meeting, calling Juncker smart and tough. He said: “If we could have no tariffs, and no barriers, and no subsidies, the United States would be extremely pleased.”

Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland was in Mexico on Wednesday to meet with top economic officials and with representatives of newly elected president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who takes office in December.

Trump has mused again in the last week about splitting the North American Free Trade Agreement into two separate agreements, one with Canada and one with Mexico. Last week, he said he might try to make a deal with Mexico first and Canada “at a later time.”

Both the current and incoming Mexican governments have rejected this idea. On Wednesday, Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said, “The essence of this agreement is trilateral, and it will continue being trilateral.”

In a July 20 letter to López Obrador, Trump said a NAFTA deal would have to be made “quickly” or else he would be forced to “go a much different route,” implicitly suggesting his usual threat to terminate the deal.

“It would not be my preference,” Trump said of the different route, “but it would be far more profitable for the United States and its taxpayers.”

López Obrador has long been a NAFTA critic, but his public rhetoric has been warmer in the last year. On Tuesday, his NAFTA negotiator expressed optimism that a deal could be completed this year.

“What I see…to be a very feasible expectation is that we’ll be concluding the negotiation in the next two months if possible, or in the next few months a bit further down the road,” Jesus Seade told Mexican radio, Reuters reported.

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Others are skeptical that a deal could be made that fast, especially because of the upcoming U.S. congressional mid-terms.

Seade made clear that there are major differences outstanding. He said Mexico cannot accept Trump’s proposed five-year “sunset clause,” seasonal tariffs on Mexican fruits and vegetables, and elimination of the independent dispute-resolution tribunals.

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