Canadian ministers meet Trump aides over tariff risks amid continued expansionist rhetoric
Canada’s new finance minister, Dominic LeBlanc, and foreign affairs minister, Melanie Joly, met aides to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in Florida on Friday to discuss the risks of imposing new trade tariffs, the Canadian government said in a statement.
Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on imports from Canada when he takes office in January unless the country reduces the flow of migrants and fentanyl into the United States.
LeBlanc’s office said in a statement after the meeting that it had a “positive, productive” engagement with Trump’s pick for Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick, and the president-elect’s pick for Interior Secretary, Doug Burgum.
LeBlanc’s office said a day earlier that the two ministers would highlight “the negative impacts that the imposition of 25% tariffs on Canadian goods would have on both Canada and the United States.”
The meeting focused on Canada’s efforts to combat fentanyl trafficking and illegal migration. Accordingly, the ministers agreed to continue further talks in the coming weeks, the statement added.
Earlier this month, the Canadian government pledged to invest C$1.3 billion ($902.34 million) toward border security over six years under a plan that would focus on surveillance, intelligence, and technology.
Friday’s meeting took place as Trump continues to belittle embattled Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on social media. On Christmas Day, he referred to the leader of the close U.S. ally as “Governor Justin Trudeau of Canada” and again alluded to the country becoming the 51st U.S. state.
In the meantime, Trudeau, whose party looks set to lose power early next year, is under increasing pressure from lawmakers in his own party to step down.
