Canada’s ambassador to the US stated Sunday that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was profitable in getting President-elect Donald Trump and key Cupboard nominees to know that lumping Canada in with Mexico over the move of medicine and migrants into the U.S. is unfair.
Kirsten Hillman, Canada’s ambassador in Washington, advised The Related Press in an interview that Trudeau’s dinner with Trump on Friday was a vital step in making an attempt to get Trump to again away from threatened tariffson all merchandise from the key American buying and selling associate.
Hillman was at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago membership in Florida and sat at an adjoining desk to Trudeau and Trump.
Trump threatened to impose tariffs on merchandise from Canada and Mexico in the event that they don’t cease what he known as the move of medicine and migrants throughout their borders. He stated in a social media publish final Monday he would impose a 25% tax on all merchandise getting into the U.S. from Canada and Mexico as one in every of his first government orders.
Hillman stated Trudeau requested to see Trump in particular person in a telephone name Monday and Trump invited him to dinner on Friday.
On the dinner, Hillman stated the case was made to Trump that there is no such thing as a comparability between the Canada-U.S. border and Mexico-U.S. border.
“The message that our border is so vastly different than the Mexican border was really understood,” Hillman stated.
Hillman stated the majority of Friday evening’s dinner centered round Trump’s border considerations. The ambassador stated a precedence of Trudeau’s was to level out the diploma of distinction.
Hillman stated there actually is not any comparability, noting there may be basically zero trafficking of fentanyl from Canada to the US. She stated there are seizures however authorities say these are private use seizures and never felony trafficking. She stated that 99.8% of the fentanyl seized by U.S. authorities within the U.S. comes from Mexico.
“Also with respect to individuals, illegal individuals crossing illegally, Canada last year was less than one percent, 0.6 percent were of total interceptions from Canada,” Hillman stated.
U.S. customs brokers seized 43 kilos of fentanyl on the Canadian border final fiscal yr, in contrast with 21,100 kilos on the Mexican border. On immigration, the U.S. Border Patrol made 56,530 arrests on the Mexican border in October alone and 23,721 arrests on the Canadian border between October 2023 and September 2024 — and Hillman stated the migrant numbers are coming down for the reason that summer season.
“The facts are hard to deny,” Hillman stated.
However Hillman stated Canada is able to make new investments in border safety and there are plans for extra helicopters, drones and legislation enforcement officers.
She additionally famous an settlement between Canada and the US that enables for migrants caught crossing illegally into the US to be despatched again to Canada. She stated that was talked about. She stated Mexico and the U.S. shouldn’t have an identical settlement.
On the dinner that lasted three hours, Hillman stated America’s commerce deficit with Canada was additionally raised. Hillman stated the U.S. had a $75 billion commerce deficit with Canada final yr however famous a 3rd of what Canada sells into the U.S. are vitality exports and costs have been excessive.
“Trade balances are something that he focuses so it’s important to engage in that conversation but to put it into context,” Hillman stated.
“We are one tenth the size of the United States so a balanced trade deal would mean per capita we are buying 10 times more from the U.S. than they are buying from us. If that’s his metric we will certainly engage on that.”
Becoming a member of Trump and Trudeau at dinner had been Howard Lutnick, Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Trump’s decide to guide the Inside Division, Mike Waltz, Trump’s option to be his nationwide safety adviser, and the three males’s wives.
Additionally on the dinner had been David McCormick, simply elected U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, and his spouse, Dina Powell, a former deputy nationwide safety adviser beneath Trump, in addition to Canadian Public Security Minister Dominic LeBlanc, whose duties embrace border safety, and Katie Telford, Trudeau’s chief of employees.
Hillman stated Canadian and incoming Trump administration officers will work on Trump’s considerations within the coming weeks. Trump known as the talks “productive” on Sunday in a social media publish however signaled no retreat from his tariff pledge.
Hillman stated Trump and Trudeau “get along well” and the dinner was additionally an opportunity to socialize. She stated Trump used his iPad to play music and she or he stated Trump advised Trudeau he’s a giant fan of Canadian singer Celine Dion.
“I don’t think it could have been better to be frank. Okay, I’ll take that back, I’ll change that. If he obviously said there would be no tariffs that would have been better but there was no realistic expectation of that,” Hillman stated.
Canada is the highest export vacation spot for 36 U.S. states. Practically $3.6 billion Canadian (US$2.7 billion) value of products and providers cross the border every day.
About 60% of U.S. crude oil imports are from Canada, and 85% of U.S. electrical energy imports are from Canada.
Canada can be the most important overseas provider of metal, aluminum and uranium to the U.S. and has 34 crucial minerals and metals that the Pentagon is keen for and investing in for nationwide safety.
Canada is without doubt one of the most trade-dependent international locations on the earth, and 77% of Canada’s exports go to the U.S.
