High-ranking Canadian officers met with prime aides to Donald Trump on Friday to debate border safety and the potential influence of tariffs that the president-elect has threatened to impose when he takes workplace subsequent month.
Canadian Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly traveled to Mar-a-Lago for a gathering with Howard Lutnick and Doug Burgum, Trump’s picks to the lead the departments of commerce and inside, respectively.
A spokesperson for the Canadian Finance Ministry mentioned the assembly was “optimistic” and “productive,” and served as a follow-up to Trump and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s dinner final month after Trump threatened to impose a 25% tariff on Canadian items.
“Both Ministers outlined the measures in Canada’s Border Plan and reiterated the shared dedication to strengthen border safety in addition to fight the hurt brought on by fentanyl to avoid wasting Canadian and American lives,” mentioned spokesperson Jean-Sébastien Comeau in a press release.
The assembly didn’t seem to alter issues on the tariffs entrance, although Lutnick and Burgum agreed to “relay info” to Trump, based on Comeau.
The Trump transition staff didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark Friday night time.
Going into the assembly, a separate spokesperson for Finance Ministry mentioned: “The Ministers intend to deal with Canada’s efforts to fight fentanyl trafficking and unlawful migration and the measures outlined in Canada’s Border Plan, in addition to the damaging impacts that the imposition of 25% tariffs on Canadian items would have on each Canada and the United States.”
The assembly comes on the heels of Trump’s repeated vows to enact tariffs on Canada and Mexico. Trump has forged the tariffs as a response to frame safety, arguing that Canada and Mexico are contributing to the circulation of unlawful medicine, equivalent to fentanyl, into the U.S.
Data supplied by U.S. Customs and Border Protection exhibits that fentanyl seized on the northern border is a minute fraction of the quantities seized in different areas.
Canada and Mexico are two of the United States’ prime buying and selling companions, that means tariffs would have wide-ranging results.
Trump has not too long ago mocked Trudeau by referring to him as “governor” of Canada. In social media posts on Christmas, Trump repeated the moniker whereas suggesting the U.S. might annex the nation as its 51st state.