WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau flew to Florida to meet with President-elect Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club as President Trump threatened to impose sweeping tariffs on Canadian goods.
A source familiar with the matter said Prime Minister Trudeau will have dinner with President Trump. The official was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity.
President Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on products from Canada and Mexico if they do not stop the flow of drugs and immigrants across their southern and northern borders. In one of his first executive orders, he said he would impose a 25% tax on all goods imported into the United States from Canada and Mexico.
Trump has called Trudeau “weak” and “dishonest” during his first term, but their relationship remains one of the closest in the world. Prime Minister Trudeau is the first G7 leader to visit President Trump since the US presidential election.
Canada’s Minister of Public Safety Dominic LeBlanc accompanied Trudeau on this trip.
Prime Minister Trudeau said Friday morning that he would speak with President Trump to resolve the tariff issue.
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“We will work together to address some of the concerns,” Trudeau told reporters on Prince Edward Island in Atlantic Canada. “But ultimately, the many constructive conversations I will have with President Trump will allow us to move forward on the right path for all Canadians.”
Trudeau said Trump was elected because he promised to lower food prices, but now he’s talking about adding 25% to the price of all kinds of products, including Prince Edward Island potatoes.
“It’s important to understand that when Donald Trump makes those statements, he plans to carry them out. There’s no question about that,” Trudeau said.
“Our responsibility is to point out that not only will he harm Canadians who work well with the United States, he will actually raise prices for American citizens and harm American industries and businesses,” he added.
These tariffs could essentially blow up the North American trade deal that Trump’s team negotiated during his first term. Trudeau said he was able to successfully renegotiate the deal, which he called a “win win” for both countries.
“We can work together like never before,” Trudeau said.
President Trump issued his tariff threat Monday, blaming the influx of illegal immigrants despite numbers at the Canadian border dwarfing those at the southern border.
U.S. Border Patrol apprehended 56,530 people at the Mexican border in October alone, and 23,721 people at the Canadian border between October 2023 and September 2024.
Trump also criticized Mexico and Canada for fentanyl, despite fewer seizures at the Canadian border compared to the Mexican border. U.S. Customs seized 43 pounds of fentanyl at the Canadian border last fiscal year, compared with 21,100 pounds at the Mexican border.
Canadian officials say it’s unfair to equate Canada with Mexico, but they are prepared to make new investments in border security.
Trudeau called Trump after posting on social media from the border.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Thursday she was confident a tariff war with the United States could be avoided. Trump posted on social media that he had spoken with her and that she had agreed to stop illegal immigration into the United States across the border.
When President Trump imposed higher tariffs during his first term, other countries responded with retaliatory tariffs. For example, Canada announced billions of new tariffs against the United States in 2018 in response to new taxes on Canadian steel and aluminum.
Canada is already considering the possibility of imposing retaliatory tariffs on certain American products if President Trump follows through on his threat to impose across-the-board tariffs on Canadian products, a senior official told The Associated Press this week.
Government officials said Canada is preparing for all contingencies and has begun considering which products to target with retaliatory tariffs. Officials emphasized that no decision has been made yet. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.
Canada is the largest export destination for 36 U.S. states. Nearly $3.6 billion (US$2.7 billion) worth of Canadian goods and services cross the border every day.
About 60% of U.S. crude oil imports come from Canada and 85% of U.S. electricity imports come from Canada.
Canada is also the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum and uranium to the United States and has 34 key minerals and metals in which the Department of Defense wants to invest for national security.
Canada is one of the most trade-dependent countries in the world, with 77% of Canadian exports destined for the United States.
“Canada has reason to be afraid because President Trump is impulsive and often influenced by the last thing he saw on Fox News,” said Nelson Wiseman, a professor emeritus at the University of Toronto. “He can capitalize on this by catering to what he thinks will sound and look good to the public rather than what has happened or will happen.”
Gillies reported from Toronto.
