this from a canadian tv network
Trump slams Canada on Twitter, suggests replacing NAFTA with separate deals
In a 274-character tweet, Trump implored Canada to open its markets and take down its trade barriers.
"Canada has treated our Agricultural business and Farmers very poorly for a very long period of time. 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 U.S.?" he tweeted.
In reality, the U.S. government, by its own account, reported a U.S. goods and services trade surplus of US$8.4 billion with Canada in 2017.
This is classic bad reporting: you don't deny what President Trump actually said, you deny something that he didn't say.
There's been a discussion about US-Canada trade figures in the media since the Trump-Trudeau meeting a while back. Because the two sides calculate trade figures in a slightly different way, the Canadian figures show that Canada has a surplus while the US figures show that the US has a surplus.
President Trump was absolutely correct when he tweeted, "They report a really high surplus on trade with us."
CTV News is being disingenuous when they say, "In reality, the U.S. government, by its own account, reported a U.S. goods and services trade surplus of US$8.4 billion with Canada in 2017." That may well be true, but it doesn't alter the fact that what President Trump said is also true, that the Canadian government, by its own account, reported a really high Canadian goods and services trade surplus with the US in 2017.