Article content continued

The dust-up left Canada-U.S. relations, already strained over the ongoing NAFTA talks and a burgeoning cross-border tariff war, at their lowest point in recent memory — until Trudeau crossed the corridor to reach out to Kudlow.

“He came up to me — this is a true story — after the USMCA ceremony, he walked across the hall to come up and grab my hand and give me a hug,” Kudlow said. “I asked him if we could please turn the page on any of that stuff that occurred last spring, and he said, ’Absolutely,’ and then we started having some policy discussions.

“Justin just grabbed my hand and gave me a bear hug, and I was thrilled.”

Asked whether the animosity has similarly diminished between the two leaders, Kudlow said: “I think it’s partly happened.”

On Friday, Trump himself floated the possibility — again — that the U.S. could drop criminal charges against Huawei, as the president wrapped up two days of negotiations at the White House aimed at resolving America’s own ongoing trade dispute with China.

“We’re going to be discussing all of that during the course of the next couple of weeks,” Trump said at the White House during an Oval Office meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s special envoy, Vice Premier Liu He.

“We’ll be talking to the U.S. attorneys. We’ll be talking to the attorney general. We’ll be making that decision. Right now, it’s not something we’ve discussed.”

Late Sunday, Trump announced he would hold off on a dramatic spike in tariffs on Chinese exports, originally scheduled for Friday, pending the outcome of U.S.-China trade talks that he said on Twitter have “made substantial progress.”

“Assuming both sides make additional progress, we will be planning a Summit for President Xi and myself at Mar-a-Lago to conclude an agreement.”