Prince Albert MP Randy Hoback says he’s not going to overact to recent comments made by American President Donald Trump on Canada-U.S. trade relations.

On Thursday, Trump called the North American Free Trade Agreement a “disaster” for the United States, particularly for the country’s lumber, dairy and energy industries.

He added that the U.S. couldn’t let “Canada or anybody else take advantage and do what they did to our workers and to our farmers,” and emphasized the importance of getting to the negotiating table as soon as possible.

Hoback, who serves as the vice-chair of the International Trade Committee, has maintained that there is a great deal of support among American politicians for strong Canada-U.S. trade relations.

He called Trump’s comments “unnerving” because of the instability they bring to businesses that rely on cross-border trade, but added that Canadian residents shouldn’t panic.

“I’m not overacting on this,” he said. “Our ambassador, he was fairly clear, he’s not overly perplexed or bothered by it. It’s probably just pre-positioning for NAFTA talks then anything. It’s just the was he goes about negotiating things.”

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