Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Donald Trump spoke on Tuesday amid increased trade tensions, but summaries of both sides of the conversation could make one wonder if the two world leaders were on the same phone call.
Earlier this week, the U.S. announced that it would impose a tariff of about 20 percent on softwood lumber imported from Canada, a move Trump characterized as his “tough on trade” presidential style.
“We don’t want to be taken advantage of by other countries, and that’s stopping and that’s stopping fast,” Trump said Monday before signing an executive order on an agriculture task force.
On Tuesday, Trudeau and Trump spoke on the phone about the lumber disagreement as well as complaints over dairy trade. Trudeau’s office released a 213-word statement after the call, saying the prime minister “refuted baseless claims” about Canada’s softwood lumber industry and rejected the decision to impose “unfair duties.”
The White House described the call as “amicable.”
A side-by-side comparison of the drastically different summaries made the rounds on Twitter.
According to the Canadian Press, disputes over lumber pricing between the two countries typically come up once every 10 years and usually result in negotiated settlements.