US Commerce Secretary: Canada as 51st state "Best" for integration

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Canada becoming a US state is the "best way" to integrate the economies of the two nations, according to local media.

"The best way, the president (Donald Trump) has said it, the best way to actually merge the economies of Canada and the US is for Canada to become our 51st state," the Hill newspaper quoted Lutnick as saying.

"If they want to merge it, that's how you make it the 51st state," Lutnick said Wednesday on Fox Business Network's Varney & Co.

"So the key point is, Canada's going to have to work with us to really integrate their economy," he said.

"And as the president said, they should consider the amazing advantages of being the 51st state of the United States," he added.

Before being sworn in and moving into the White House, US President Donald Trump had repeatedly argued that Canada should be incorporated into the US as the 51st state.

Claiming that Canadians also wanted to be part of the US, Trump had repeatedly referred to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as a "governor."