Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in Florida at Mar-a-Lago and is expected to meet with President-elect Donald Trump on Friday evening, according to multiple sources.
The expected meeting came after Trump threatened to impose 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada until the two countries end what he claims is a flow of drugs and illegal immigrants to the United States.
Trudeau told reporters earlier this week, after he and Trump spoke on the phone following the tariff threat, that they had a “good call.” He added that he looked forward to “many interesting conversations” with Trump.
President Donald Trump welcomes Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to the White House in Washington, October 11, 2017.
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
The prime minister cited negotiations for the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or UMSCA, as a sign that he believes he can work with Trump on trade and avoid a trade war.
The USMCA took effect in 2020 after it was signed by Trump and was designed to provide primarily duty-free trade between the United States, Canada and Mexico. Trump’s tariff threats could put this deal in jeopardy.
The terms of the USMCA allowed it to be renegotiated after six years, in 2026, but experts told ABC News the tariff threat could be an effort to move forward that negotiating window.
However, some experts told ABC News’ Selina Wang and Karen Travers that the threat likely won’t work in a second Trump term because it’s “the same playbook that was used the second time around.” If you’re on the football field and you call the same play twice, it’s not going to be as effective the second time. »
The tariffs could also significantly raise the prices of goods after Trump led his campaign to reduce excessively high inflation.
Trudeau spoke with Trump on Monday, November 25, after Trump announced the first tariffs on Canada and Mexico, as well as China, the United States’ three main trading partners.
“We talked about some of the challenges we can work on together,” he told reporters about the call. “This is a relationship that we know takes some work, and that’s what we will do.”
Trudeau’s plane landed at Palm Beach International Airport on Friday ahead of a planned dinner at Mar-a-Lago with the president-elect, according to reports.
