Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau flew to Florida to meet with President-elect Donald Trump after he issued a tariff threat to Canada and two other nations.
The Associated Press cited a source saying that Trudeau was to have dinner with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. Canadian Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc is said to have accompanied Trudeau on the trip.
‘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.’
Trump issued a statement Monday that Canada and Mexico would both face a 25% on the first day of his second term unless they took steps to stop the flow of illegal aliens, and illicit drugs into the U.S. through their respective borders. He also said China would face an additional 10% tariff unless the country did more to stop shipments into the U.S. of fentanyl.
Mexico’s newly elected President Claudia Sheinbaum responded in a public letter warning Trump that her country could respond with their own tariffs but that the trade war would only lead to a loss of jobs and higher inflation for both countries.
“Among Mexico’s main exporters to the United States are General Motors, Stellantis, and Ford Motor Company, which arrived in Mexico 80 years ago,” she wrote. “Why impose a tariff that would jeopardize them?”
Trudeau had previously told reporters that he would resolve the tariff threat by talking to Trump directly.
“We’re going to work together to meet some of the concerns,” he said at Prince Edward Island. “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.”
He also argued that tariffs would just hurt both countries.
“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.”
Some defenders of Trump’s tariffs threats have claimed that they are only a negotiating tool to force other nations to further U.S. interests.
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