TORONTO — Canada’s ambassador to america mentioned Sunday that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was profitable in getting President-elect Donald Trump and key Cupboard nominees to grasp that lumping Canada in with Mexico over the stream of medication 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 an important step in making an attempt to get Trump to again away from threatened tariffs on all merchandise from the main American buying and selling accomplice.
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 stream of medication and migrants throughout their borders. He wrote in a social media submit final Monday that he would impose a 25 % tax on all merchandise coming into the U.S. from Canada and Mexico as considered one of his first govt orders.
Hillman mentioned Trudeau requested to see Trump in particular person in a cellphone name Monday and Trump invited him to dinner on Friday.
On the dinner, Hillman mentioned the case was made to Trump that there isn’t any 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 mentioned.
Hillman mentioned the majority of Friday evening’s dinner centered round Trump’s border considerations. The ambassador mentioned Trudeau’s precedence was to level out the diploma of distinction.
Hillman mentioned there actually isn’t any comparability, noting there may be basically zero trafficking of fentanyl from Canada to america. She mentioned there are seizures however authorities say these are personal-use seizures and never prison trafficking. She mentioned 99.8 % of the fentanyl seized by U.S. authorities in america comes from Mexico.
“Also with respect to individuals, illegal individuals crossing illegally, Canada last year was less than 1 percent, 0.6 percent were of total interceptions from Canada,” Hillman mentioned.
U.S. customs brokers seized 43 kilos of fentanyl on the Canadian border final fiscal 12 months, 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 mentioned the migrant numbers are coming down for the reason that summer time.
“The facts are hard to deny,” Hillman mentioned.
However Hillman mentioned Canada is able to make new investments in border safety and there are plans for extra helicopters, drones and regulation enforcement officers.
She additionally famous an settlement between Canada and america that permits for migrants caught crossing illegally into america to be despatched again to Canada. She mentioned that was talked about. She mentioned Mexico and the U.S. should not have an identical settlement.
Through the three-hour dinner, Hillman mentioned, America’s commerce deficit with Canada additionally was raised. Hillman mentioned the U.S. had a $75 billion commerce deficit with Canada final 12 months however famous {that a} third of what Canada sells into the U.S. are vitality exports and costs have been excessive.
“Trade balances are something that he focuses (on), so it’s important to engage in that conversation but to put it into context,” Hillman mentioned. “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 steer 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 below Trump, in addition to Canadian Public Security Minister Dominic LeBlanc, whose duties embrace border safety, and Katie Telford, Trudeau’s chief of workers.
Hillman mentioned 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 submit however signaled no retreat from his tariff pledge.
Hillman mentioned Trump and Trudeau “get along well” and the dinner was additionally an opportunity to socialize. She mentioned Trump used his iPad to play music and mentioned 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,” Hillman mentioned. “OK, 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.”
Canada is the highest export vacation spot for 36 U.S. states. Almost $3.6 billion Canadian (US$2.7 billion) price of products and companies 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 biggest international 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 likely one of the most trade-dependent nations on the earth, and 77 % of its exports go to america.