Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort Friday after the president-elect threatened to impose tariffs on Canadian products.
Trump has floated imposing a 25% tariff on all goods coming into the United States from Canada and Mexico if the flow of drugs and immigrants across the northern and southern borders does not end. The tariffs would be among one of his first executive orders.
Trudeau is having dinner with Trump during his visit, a person familiar with the matter told the Associated Press. Earlier Friday, Trudeau told reporters on Prince Edward Island in Atlantic Canada that he planned to talk to Trump to resolve the matter.
“We’re going to work together to meet some of the concerns,” Trudeau said. “But ultimately, it is through lots of real constructive conversations with President Trump that I am going to have, that will keep us moving forward on the right track for all Canadians.”
Approximately 80% of Canada’s oil and 40% of its gas are exported to the U.S. Trudeau suggested that tariffs could cause a great burden to U.S. consumers.
“He would be actually not just harming Canadians who work so well with the United States,” Trudeau said. “He [would] actually be raising prices for American citizens as well, and hurting American industry and businesses.”
Trudeau said it is important to take Trump’s threat seriously, explaining that “when he makes statements like that, he plans on carrying them out.”
Trump made the threat to both Canada and Mexico, which likely will cause issues with the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement. The first Trump administration negotiated the USMCA, the successor to the North American Free Trade Agreement.
While Trudeau looks to negotiate with Trump, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has threatened to impose retaliatory tariffs.
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She sent a letter to Trump that emphasized the need for cooperation and mutual understanding” and that drug use “cannot be addressed through threats or tariffs.”
The trade pact is up for renegotiation in 2026, but analysts suggest a renegotiation may come sooner given Trump’s willingness to put tariffs in place now.
