Tariff threat: After ‘productive’ talks with Trump, Trudeau makes ‘commitment’ to work with US to end ‘drug epidemic’
Donald Trump has threatened to impose a 25% tax on all products entering the US from Canada and Mexico as one of his first executive orders when he takes office in January.
As the threat of tariff looms over Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau returned home on Saturday after his meeting with Donald Trump without any assurance, but with a ‘commitment to work with US’.
In the talks that Trump called “productive”, the US President-elect did not mention his earlier 25% tariff threat over the flow of drugs and migrants into the United States, that Canada says unfairly lumps it in with Mexico.
After the leaders’ hastily arranged dinner on Friday night at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, Trudeau spoke of “an excellent conversation” but offered no details.
In a Truth Social post, Donald Trump said they discussed “many important topics that will require both Countries to work together to address.”
“I made it very clear that the United States will no longer sit idly by as our citizens become victims to the scourge of this Drug Epidemic, caused mainly by the Drug Cartels, and Fentanyl pouring in from China,” Trump said in a post.
“Prime Minister Trudeau has made a commitment to work with us to end this terrible devastation of US Families,” he asserted.
The Republican president-elect has threatened to impose a 25% tax on all products entering the US from Canada and Mexico as one of his first executive orders when he takes office in January.
At the dinner that was said to last three hours, Trump said he and Trudeau also discussed energy, trade and the Arctic. A second official cited defense, Ukraine, NATO, China, the Mideast, pipelines and the Group of Seven meeting in Canada next year as other issues that arose.
Trump, during his first term as president, once called Trudeau “weak” and “dishonest,” but it was the prime minister who was the first G7 leader to visit Trump since the November 5 election.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, after speaking with Trump on the telephone, said on Thursday she was confident a tariff war with Washington would be averted.
Border issue in numbers
In the last fiscal year, US customs agents seized 43 pounds of fentanyl at the Canadian border compared with 21,100 pounds at the Mexican border.
On immigration, the US Border Patrol made 56,530 arrests at the Mexican border in October alone and 23,721 arrests at the Canadian border between October 2023 and September 2024 — and Canadian officials say they are ready to make new investments in border security.
US-Canada trade
Canada is the top export destination for 36 US states. Nearly $3.6 billion Canadian worth of goods and services cross the border each day.
About 60% of US crude oil imports are from Canada, and 85% of US electricity imports are from Canada.
Canada is also the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum and uranium to the US and has 34 critical minerals and metals that the Pentagon is eager for and investing in for national security.
Canada is one of the most trade-dependent countries in the world, and 77% of Canada’s exports go to the US.
The threatened tariffs could essentially blow up the North American trade pact that Trump’s team negotiated during his first term. Trudeau noted they were able to successfully renegotiate the deal, which he calls a “win win” for both countries.
Before leaving for Friday dinner, Trudeau had said that Trump was elected because he promised to bring down the cost of groceries but now was talking about adding 25% to the cost of all kinds of products, including potatoes from Prince Edward Island in Atlantic Canada.
“It is important to understand that Donald Trump, when he makes statements like that, he plans on carrying them out. There’s no question about it,” Trudeau said.
“Our responsibility is to point out that he would not just be harming Canadians, who work so well with the United States, but he would actually be raising prices for Americans citizens as well and hurting American industry and business,” he added.
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First Published:1 Dec 2024, 07:49 AM IST
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