Two senior Canadian officials held discussions on Friday at United States President-elect Donald Trump's Florida estate, following threats by the incoming chief executive to impose sweeping 25 percent tariffs on America’s northern neighbor.
Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly and Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc met with U.S. commerce secretary-nominee Howard Lutnick and U.S. interior secretary-nominee Doug Burgum to address Trump's concerns about Ottawa’s efforts to manage migration and combat drug trafficking along the border between the two longstanding allies.
“Minister LeBlanc and Minister Joly had a positive, productive meeting at Mar-a-Lago with Howard Lutnick and Doug Burgum as a follow-up to the dinner between the Prime Minister and President Trump last month,” said Jean-Sébastien Comeau, a spokesperson for LeBlanc, in a statement to The Associated Press.
Comeau also informed the news outlet that the Canadian delegates highlighted recent actions taken by their government to enhance security along the 5,500-mile national boundary, stressing “the shared commitment to strengthen border security as well as combat the harm caused by fentanyl to save Canadian and American lives.”
In 2023, the annual trade in goods and services between Canada and the U.S. was valued at more than $770 billion.
