AGT Food & Ingredients CEO Murad Al-Katib says non-tariff trade barriers and protectionist views in the U.S. are concerning, but U.S.-Canada trade ties will inevitably remain strong.

Al-Katib, who grew AGT Foods from a small business out of his basement into a company that generates $2-billion a year, said despite the current trade rhetoric coming from the Trump administration, individual states have acknowledged the importance of their relationship with Canada.  

“From a trade relationship perspective, I think the acknowledgment is not only there, but the value has been communicated by different states. And I think we have to be in their face,” Al-Katib said in an interview on BNN Thursday.

Al-Katib, who was named the Ernst-Young Entrepreneur of the Year in both 2016 and 2017, also said he isn’t too worried about the upcoming NAFTA negotiations because of the interdependence between the U.S. and Canada, noting his company has two processing plants in North Dakota.  

“We have to definitely have people understand that the issues that the United States has with Mexico are different than the issues they have with Canada,” he said.

“And I think at the end of the day, the NAFTA discussion will resolve itself. Our economies are so integrated that we have no other choice.”