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Florida’s West Palm Beach — After Donald Trump threatened to put broad tariffs on Canadian goods, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took a plane to Florida on Friday to have dinner with the president-elect at his Mar-a-Lago club.
If Canada and Mexico don’t halt what he dubbed the flood of people and narcotics over their borders, Trump threatened to levy taxes on their goods.
He said that one of his first executive orders will be to levy a 25% tax on all goods coming into the United States from Canada and Mexico.
It was described as a “positive wide-ranging dinner that lasted three hours” by someone with knowledge of the specifics.
Trade, border security, fentanyl, defense, Ukraine, NATO, China, pipelines, and the Group of Seven summit in Canada next year were among the subjects discussed, according to the official.
Who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to talk publicly.
Even though throughout his first term, Trump referred to Trudeau as “weak” and “dishonest,” the two nations’ relations have remained among the closest in the world. Trudeau is the first G7 leader to go to Trump since the election on November 5.
Mike Waltz, Trump’s candidate for national security advisor, Doug Burgum, the governor of North Dakota.
Howard Lutnick, Trump’s nomination for commerce secretary, and the spouses of the three men joined Trump and Trudeau for dinner.
Canadian Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who oversees border security, Trudeau’s chief of staff Katie Telford, newly elected U.S.
Senator from Pennsylvania David McCormick and his wife Dina Powell, a former Trump deputy national security adviser, were also present at the dinner.
McCormick shared a picture of the group sitting at a round table on the Mar-a-Lago terrace on X. A child is seen posing for the camera at the table behind the president-elect.
Questions concerning their talk and whether it allayed Trump’s border worries were not answered by Trump’s transition.
Late Friday, a beaming Trudeau returned to his hotel in West Palm Beach and refused to speak. Earlier on Friday, Trudeau said that he will speak with Trump to discuss the tariff problem.
After meeting with Trump on Thursday, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum expressed her confidence that a trade war with the United States would not break out.
In Prince Edward Island, Atlantic Canada, Trudeau told reporters, “We’re going to work together to meet some of the concerns.”
“But in the end, it will be through numerous genuine, productive discussions with President Trump that I will be able to keep us on the correct path for all Canadians.”
Trudeau said that while Trump was elected on a platform of lowering grocery prices, he is now proposing to raise the price of a variety of goods, including Prince Edward Island potatoes, by 25%.
It’s critical to realize that Donald Trump intends to follow through on his comments when he makes them. Trudeau said that there is no doubt about it.
“It is our duty to draw attention to the fact that he would not only be hurting Canadians, who collaborate so effectively with the United States.
But he would also be hurting American industry and business and raising prices for Americans,” he said.
The North American trade agreement that Trump’s administration crafted during his first term might be effectively destroyed by such tariffs.
They were able to effectively renegotiate the agreement, which Trudeau describes as a “win win” for both nations.
“We can collaborate as we have in the past,” Trudeau said. Despite the fact that there are many more illegal migrants at the Canadian border than at the southern one, Trump threatened tariffs on Monday while ranting about the flood.
Between October 2023 and September 2024, the U.S. Border Patrol made 23,721 arrests at the Canadian border and 56,530 at the Mexican border in October alone.
Despite the fact that there are much fewer seizures at the Canadian border than from the Mexican one, Trump again complained about fentanyl coming from both countries.
Last fiscal year, U.S. customs officers found 43 pounds of fentanyl at the Canadian border, while they found 21,100 pounds at the Mexican border.
Although they claim it is unfair to group Canada with Mexico, Canadian authorities say they are prepared to increase border security spending.
Following Trump’s border-related social media postings, Trudeau gave him a call. Other nations retaliated with their own tariffs in response to Trump’s increased tariffs during his first term in office.
For example, in reaction to additional levies on Canadian steel and aluminum, Canada declared billions of dollars in new penalties against the United States in 2018.
According to a senior source who spoke to The Associated Press this week, Canada is already considering the possibility of retaliatory tariffs on specific U.S. goods in the event that Trump fulfills his promise to put broad taxes on Canadian goods.
According to a government official, Canada has begun considering which goods to target with tariffs in response and is ready for any scenario.
No decision has been taken, the official said. Since they were not permitted to talk in public, the individual spoke on the condition of anonymity.
For 36 U.S. states, Canada is their biggest export destination. Every day, products and services valued at around $3.6 billion Canadian (US$2.7 billion) pass the border.
Approximately 60% of the crude oil and 85% of the power imported into the United States come from Canada.
In addition to having 34 vital minerals and metals that the Pentagon is interested in and investing in for national security, Canada is the United States’ top foreign supplier of steel, aluminum, and uranium.
77% of Canada’s exports are sent to the United States, making it one of the most trade-dependent nations in the world.
According to Nelson Wiseman, an emeritus professor at the University of Toronto, “Canada has reason to fear because Trump is impulsive, often influenced by the last thing he sees on Fox News.”
“He can take advantage of that by focusing on what he believes the public will find appealing rather than what actually occurs or will occur.”