White House trade adviser PeterNavarro apologized for suggesting Canadian Prime Minister JustinTrudeau deserved a “special place in hell” for a perceived breachin protocol against U.S. President Donald Trump.“My job was to senda signal of strength,” he said at a Wall Street Journal CFO Networkconference in Washington on Tuesday. “The problem was that inconveying that message I used language that wasinappropriate.”Citing Chinese philosopher Confucius, Navarro said:“If you make a mistake and don't correct it, that's amistake.”Navarro, a supporter of tariffs to help reduce the U.S.trade deficit and a longtime critic of China, turned his anger atCanada over the weekend as a Group of Seven (G-7) meeting hosted byTrudeau ended in disarray and trade threats. After leaving thesummit early, Trump tweeted he was pulling U.S. support from ajoint statement, and he accused Trudeau—the summit's host—of beingweak and dishonest during a news conference.Navarro took the attacka step further on Sunday. “There's a special place in hell for anyforeign leader that engages in bad-faith diplomacy with PresidentDonald J. Trump and then tries to stab him in the back on the wayout the door,” Navarro said on “Fox News Sunday.”The criticism wasechoed by White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow, who joinedTrump at the G-7 meetings. He called on Trudeau to apologize toTrump. Kudlow was hospitalized after suffering a mild heart attackwhen he returned to Washington. He's expected to make a fullrecovery.Navarro's apology could ease tensions after Canada'sparliament condemned the personal attack on Trudeau and as CanadianForeign Minister Chrystia Freeland gets ready to meet with membersof the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday inWashington.Bob Corker, the committee's Republican chairman, said onTuesday that he's “glad” Navarro admitted that he misspoke. “Thecomment was a bit over the top,” said Corker.

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Insulting Tariffs

At his closing G-7 press conference on Saturday, Trudeau calledU.S. steel and aluminum tariffs “insulting” andpledged to proceed with previously announced retaliatory tariffs.Canadians are “polite, we're reasonable, but we also will not bepushed around,” Trudeau said.G-7 leaders jumped to the defense ofTrudeau and reiterated their support for their joint statement.European Council President Donald Tusk tweeted: “There is a specialplace in heaven" for Trudeau.Trudeau has declined to directlyrespond to Trump's criticism of him.“I think we have to stay cool.I think we have to continue to defend Canadian interests,” CanadianNatural Resources Minister Jim Carr told reporters Tuesday inOttawa.Trump said on Tuesday in Singapore, after he met NorthKorean leader Kim Jong Un, that Trudeau has “learned” from theexperience.“He learned,” Trump said. “That's going to cost a lot ofmoney for the people of Canada.”Speaking at the same forum asNavarro on Tuesday, White House Council of Economic AdvisersChairman Kevin Hassett said the U.S. and Canada need to “take adeep breath.”“There's been a lot of emotional action on all sides.And I think what people need to do at this moment is take a stepback,” Hassett said. “Politicians can get into disagreements andthey can have heated disputes, but you have to think about wheredoes this go, how bad could it get, and the disputes are over areally, really small share of GDP.”

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