Prime Minister Justin Trudeau returned to Canada Saturday without securing assurances that President-elect Donald Trump would abandon plans to impose 25% tariffs on all Canadian products, following their hastily arranged dinner at Mar-a-Lago.
While both leaders described their three-hour Florida meeting as productive, Trump showed no signs of retreating from his pledge to tax imports from Canada, which he has controversially grouped with Mexico over border security concerns. The meeting came after Trudeau reached out to Trump following Monday’s tariff announcement.
“We shared a productive wide-ranging discussion” focused on “collaboration and strengthening our relationship,” Trudeau’s office said. Trump, posting on Truth Social, said they discussed “many important topics,” including fentanyl, immigration, and trade deficits, claiming Trudeau committed to addressing drug trafficking concerns.
The stakes are particularly high for Canada, which sends 77% of its exports to the United States. Nearly $3.6 billion Canadian (US$2.7 billion) in goods and services cross the border daily, with Canada serving as the top export destination for 36 U.S. states.
Critical trade links include 60% of U.S. crude oil imports and 85% of electricity imports coming from Canada, which is also America’s largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum, and uranium. The Pentagon relies on Canada for 34 critical minerals essential to national security.
“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,” Trudeau said before the meeting.
The threatened tariffs could undermine the North American trade agreement negotiated during Trump’s first term. When Trump previously imposed tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum in 2018, Canada responded with billions in retaliatory duties.
“Tariffs are a crucial issue for Canada and a bold move was in order. Perhaps it was a risk, but a risk worth taking,” said Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal.
AP
