Trudeau in Florida to meet with Donald Trump in wake of tariff threat
U.S. president-elect said earlier this week he would impose hefty tariffs on Canada and Mexico
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in Palm Beach, Fla., to meet with U.S. president-elect Donald Trump.
Trudeau's plane landed this evening at Palm Beach International Airport, which is used by Trump when he travels to his Mar-a-Lago estate. Trump has been meeting with his transition team there in recent weeks.
The Prime Minister's Office has refused to comment on the trip. But sources speaking on the condition that they not be named have told CBC News that Trudeau will be dining with Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Friday evening. Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc is travelling with Trudeau, sources said.
They said Trudeau will spend the night in West Palm Beach and leave first thing in the morning.
Sources said the following people are also dining tonight with Trump, Trudeau, LeBlanc and Trudeau adviser Katie Telford:
- North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (the interior secretary nominee) and his wife Kathryn Helgaas.
- CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald Howard Lutnick (the commerce secretary nominee) and his wife Allison Lambert.
- Rep. Mike Waltz (national security adviser nominee) and his wife Julia Nesheiwat.
- Senator-elect for Pennsylvania David McCormick and his wife Dina Powell.
Trump said Monday night on a Truth Social post he would impose a 25 per cent tax on all goods imported from Canada and Mexico unless both countries stop what he called an "invasion" of drugs, "in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens" into the U.S.
Trudeau told a news conference earlier on Friday that Trump's tariff threats should be taken seriously.
"Donald Trump, when he makes statements like that, he plans on carrying them out. There's no question about that," he told reporters.
"Our responsibility is to point out that in this way he would be actually not just harming Canadians who work so well with the United States. He'd actually be raising prices for American citizens as well, and hurting American industry and businesses."
Trudeau spoke with Trump by phone on Monday evening after the president-elect made his tariff threat. The prime minister said Tuesday morning that the two had a "good call."
"We obviously talked about… how the intense and effective connections between our two countries flow back and forth. We talked about some of the challenges we can work on together," Trudeau told reporters.
The two leaders talked for about 10 minutes and primarily discussed trade and border security, according to a government source with knowledge of the phone call. Trudeau pointed out that the number of migrants who cross from Canada to the U.S. is a tiny fraction of those who cross from Mexico, the source said.
Trudeau held a virtual meeting with Canada's premiers on Wednesday evening to discuss strategy in wake of Trump's threat.
If Trump follows through, it could have a massive impact on the Canadian economy.
The U.S. imported $614.3 billion worth of goods from Canada in 2022, according to the Office of the United States Trade Representative. More recent figures from the U.S. Census Bureau show that the U.S. imported about $435 billion of Canadian goods between January and September of this year.
In his online post, Trump said Mexico and Canada "have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long simmering problem. We hereby demand that they use this power, and until such time that they do, it is time for them to pay a very big price!"
LeBlanc said earlier this week that Canadians can expect to see the government and law enforcement agencies reassuring Canadians that the border is safe and "showing Americans the history and daily partnership that exists between the RCMP and American agencies."
Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association, said in a statement on Friday evening that the face-to-face meeting is a "show of good faith" and proves that Trudeau is listening to opposition critics and premiers that say he "needs to do better."
"The prime minister is demonstrating that he understands there are unconventional methods to Trump's way of operating and showing the humility that his detractors accuse him of lacking."
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With files from CBC's David Cochrane, Katie Simpson, Louis Blouin and Rosemary Barton