WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau traveled to Florida to meet with President-elect Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club after Trump threatened to impose drastic tariffs on Canadian goods .
A person familiar with the matter said Trudeau would have dinner with Trump. The official was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Canadian 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 don’t stop what he calls the flow of drugs and migrants across the southern and northern borders. He said he would impose a 25% tax on all products entering the United States from Canada and Mexico in one of his first executive orders.
Although Trump once called Trudeau “weak” and “dishonest” during his first term, ties between the two countries remain among the closest in the world.
Trudeau said earlier Friday he would resolve the issue by talking to Trump.
“We will work together to address some of the concerns,” Trudeau told reporters in Prince Edward Island, Atlantic Canada. “But at the end of the day, it’s going to be a lot of really constructive conversations with President Trump that I’m going to have that will keep us moving on the right path for all Canadians.”
Trudeau said Trump was elected because he promised to lower the cost of groceries, but now he’s talking about adding 25 per cent to the cost of all kinds of produce, including Island potatoes -of Prince Edward.
“It is important to understand that Donald Trump, when he makes such statements, intends to carry them out. There is no doubt about it,” Trudeau said.
“Our responsibility is to emphasize that it would not only harm Canadians, who work so well with the United States, but it would also raise prices for American citizens and harm American industry and businesses” , he added.
These tariffs could essentially blow up the North American trade deal negotiated by Trump’s team during his first term. Trudeau stressed that they managed to renegotiate the agreement, which he called a “win-win” for both countries.
“We can work together like we have done before,” Trudeau said.
Trump threatened tariffs Monday while railing against the influx of illegal migrants, even though the numbers at the Canadian border pale in comparison at the southern border.
The U.S. Border Patrol made 56,530 apprehensions at the Mexican border in October alone – and 23,721 apprehensions at the Canadian border between October 2023 and September 2024.
Trump also denounced fentanyl coming from Mexico and Canada, although seizures at the Canadian border are few compared to the Mexican border. U.S. customs agents seized 43 pounds of fentanyl at the Canadian border last fiscal year, compared to 21,100 pounds at the Mexican border.
Canadian officials say lumping Canada in with Mexico is unfair, but they say they are willing to invest in border security.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Thursday she was confident that a tariff war with the United States could be avoided. Trump posted on social media that he had spoken to her and she had agreed to end unauthorized migration across the border 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 examining possible retaliatory tariffs on certain products from the United States if Trump follows through on his threat to impose drastic tariffs on Canadian products, a senior official told the Associated Press.
A government official said Canada was preparing for all eventualities and had started thinking about where to target tariffs in retaliation. The official stressed that no decision had been made. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Canada is the primary export destination for 36 U.S. states. Nearly C$3.6 billion (US$2.7 billion) worth of goods and services cross the border every day.
About 60% of U.S. crude oil imports come from Canada and 85% of U.S. electricity imports come from Canada.
Canada is also the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum and uranium to the United States and has 34 critical minerals and metals that the Pentagon eagerly seeks and invests in for national security.
Canada is one of the most trade-dependent countries in the world and 77% of its exports go to the United States.
“Canada has reason to be afraid because Trump is impulsive, often influenced by the latest thing he sees on Fox News,” said Nelson Wiseman, professor emeritus at the University of Toronto. “He can take advantage of that by responding to what he thinks will look good to the public rather than what is happening or will happen.”
Gillies reported from Toronto.
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