Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau traveled to Florida on Friday to meet Donald Trump, who aroused the concern of his neighbors by threatening them with a drastic increase in customs duties for his return to the White House.
On Monday, the president-elect said he wanted to impose customs duties of 25% on all products imported into the United States on Mexico and Canada, an announcement that shook the two countries and raised fears of a vast trade war.
It was probably in an attempt to avoid such economic hostilities that Justin Trudeau made a surprise trip to West Palm Beach on Friday to meet in person the next American president, who will take the reins of power on January 20.
The two men had dinner together Friday evening at Mar-a-Lago, the billionaire's residence. A photograph published by Pennsylvania Senator-elect David McCormick shows them side by side, surrounded by a dozen guests including Howard Lutnick, chosen by Donald Trump to be Commerce Secretary, and Mike Waltz, named national security adviser to the White House.
The Canadian is the first G7 leader to meet Donald Trump since his election.
In a post on Saturday on his Truth Social network, Donald Trump described this meeting as “very productive”. According to him, the discussions revolved around “the fentanyl crisis, a consequence of illegal immigration”, “trade agreements” and “the trade deficit”.
“I have made it very clear that the United States will no longer stand idly by while its citizens fall victim to the terrible scourge of the drug epidemic, caused primarily by cartels and fentanyl arriving from China,” added Donald Trump.
For his part, questioned by the journalists present, Justin Trudeau was content to speak of “an excellent conversation” as he left his hotel on Saturday morning to return to Canada. And his office declined to comment on the visit.
– Two million jobs –
Faced with Donald Trump's announcements, Canada is considering the possibility of imposing additional customs duties on certain American items in retaliation, according to a government source.
More than three quarters of Canadian exports in value (592 billion Canadian dollars or 400 billion euros) went to the United States in 2023. And nearly 2 million people in Canada depend on exports out of a population of approximately 41 million inhabitants.
Friday, in front of the press, Justin Trudeau suggested that he had no doubt about Donald Trump's intention to implement this increase announced when he came to power.
“When Donald Trump makes such statements, he intends to carry them out,” he said.
During Trump's first term, the United States imposed tariffs of 25% on steel imports and 10% on aluminum imports, to which Ottawa responded by targeting certain American products such as ketchup, bourbon and orange juice.
Regardless of the Canada-United States-Mexico free trade agreement (USMCA), Donald Trump made customs duties the backbone of his economic policy during his campaign.
– “Stopper l’immigration” –
On Monday, the former and next president promised that he will maintain this surcharge “until drugs, especially fentanyl, and all illegal immigrants stop this invasion of our country!”
He spoke with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Wednesday, but their phone call led to divergent interpretations.
The American assured that his counterpart had agreed to “stop illegal immigration” towards the United States. But Ms. Sheinbaum contradicted him, recalling that Mexico's position “is not to close the borders.”
She also threatened to in turn increase Mexican customs tariffs on American products.
Donald Trump also announced on Monday that he wanted to increase customs duties on products from China by 10%.
Initially, American President Joe Biden judged these statements “counterproductive” on Thursday.
