Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau flew to Florida to meet with US President-elect Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago mansion, after Trump threatened to impose widespread tariffs on Canadian products.
A person familiar with the matter said Trudeau will have dinner with Trump. The official was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Canada’s Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc accompanied Trudeau on the trip.
Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on products from Canada and Mexico if those countries do not stop what he called the flow of drugs and migrants across the southern and northern borders of the United States. He said that one of his first executive orders would be to impose a 25% tax on all products entering the United States from its two neighboring countries.
Although Trump once called Trudeau “weak” and “dishonest” during his first term, ties between the two countries have remained among the closest in the world.
Trudeau said earlier Friday that he would resolve the matter by talking to Trump.
“We’re going to work together to address some of the concerns,” Trudeau told reporters on Canada’s Atlantic Prince Edward Island. “But ultimately, it is through the many really constructive conversations I will have with President Trump that we will continue to move forward on the right path for all Canadians.”
Trudeau said Trump was elected because he promised to reduce the cost of groceries, but now he’s talking about adding 25% to the cost of all kinds of products, including Prince Edward Island potatoes.
“It’s important to understand that when Donald Trump makes statements like that, he plans to carry them out. There is no doubt about it,” Trudeau said.
“Our responsibility is to point out that not only would it be hurting Canadians, who work so well with the United States, but it would actually be raising prices for American citizens and hurting American industry and businesses,” he added.
In essence, those tariffs could scuttle the North American trade pact that Trump’s team negotiated during his initial term. Trudeau noted that they were able to successfully renegotiate the agreement, which he considers beneficial for both countries.
“We can work together as we did before,” Trudeau added.
Trump made the threat to impose tariffs on Monday while complaining about a surge in illegal migrants, although the numbers at the Canadian border pale in comparison to those at the southern border.
The United States Border Patrol made 56,530 arrests on the Mexican border in October alone, and 23,721 detentions on the Canadian border between October 2023 and September 2024.
Trump also complained about fentanyl coming from Mexico and Canada, although seizures of that narcotic on the Canadian border are few compared to those on the Mexican border. U.S. customs agents seized 19 kilograms (43 pounds) of fentanyl at the Canadian border in the last fiscal year, compared to 9,525 kilograms (21,100 pounds) at the Mexican border.
Canadian officials consider it unfair to group Canada with Mexico, but say they are ready to make new investments in border security.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Thursday that she is confident that a tariff war with Washington will be avoided. Trump posted on social media that he had spoken with her and that Sheinbaum had agreed to stop the entry of unauthorized migrants into the United States.
When Trump imposed higher tariffs during his first term, other countries responded with retaliatory tariffs of their own. Canada, for example, announced billions in new tariffs in 2018 against the United States in response to new taxes on Canadian steel and aluminum.
Canada is already weighing possible retaliatory tariffs on certain U.S. goods if Trump makes good on his threat to impose widespread tariffs on Canadian goods, a senior official told The Associated Press this week.
A government official indicated that Canada is preparing for any eventuality and has begun to think about which items it can apply retaliatory tariffs on. The official — who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly — emphasized that no decision has been made.
Canada is the main export destination for 36 United States states. Nearly 3.6 billion Canadian dollars (2.7 billion US dollars) worth of goods and services cross the border each day.
About 60% of U.S. crude oil imports come from Canada, as do 85% of U.S. electricity imports.
Canada is also the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum and uranium to the United States, and has 34 crucial minerals and metals that the Pentagon wants and is investing in for national security.
Canada is one of the most trade-dependent countries in the world. 77% of its exports go to the United States.
“Canada has reason to fear because Trump is impulsive, often influenced by the latest thing he sees on Fox News,” said Nelson Wiseman, a professor emeritus at the University of Toronto. “He can take advantage of that by catering to what he thinks the audience will think is good and sound good, rather than what is happening or will happen.”
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