WEST PALM BEACH, Florida, USA (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Saturday that he had an “excellent conversation” with Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate after the president-elect threatened to impose significant tariffs on two of the United States’ main trading partners.
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However, it was not clear whether the conversation had eased Trump's concerns as Trudeau returned to Canada.
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A person familiar with the details of the hastily organized meeting on Friday night said it was a "positive and broad dinner that lasted three hours." The official, who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said the topics included trade, border security, fentanyl, defense, Ukraine, NATO, China, the Middle East, and pipelines, as well as the G7 meeting in Canada next year.
The Republican president-elect has threatened to impose tariffs on products from Canada and Mexico if the countries do not stop what he called the influx of drugs and migrants across their borders. He said he would impose a 25% tax on all products entering the United States from Canada and Mexico as one of his first executive orders when he takes office in January.
While leaving his hotel in West Palm Beach, Trudeau briefly stopped to answer a reporter's question about the dinner, saying it was "an excellent conversation." Trump's transition team did not respond to questions about what the leaders had discussed.
During his first term as president, Trump once called Trudeau "weak" and "dishonest," but it was the Canadian Prime Minister who became the first G7 leader to visit Trump since the November 5th elections.
"Tariffs are a crucial issue for Canada and a bold measure was needed. It may have been a risk, but a risk worth taking," said Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal.
Among those present at the dinner were Howard Lutnick, Trump's pick for Secretary of Commerce; North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, in line to lead the Department of the Interior; and Mike Waltz, Trump's choice to be his national security advisor. Accompanying Trudeau were Canada's Minister of Public Safety, Dominic LeBlanc, whose responsibilities include border security, and Katie Telford, Trudeau's chief of staff.
Trudeau had said the previous Friday that he would solve the issue of tariffs by talking to Trump. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said the day before, after speaking with Trump, that she trusts a trade war with the United States will be avoided.
Trudeau commented that Trump was elected because he promised to reduce the cost of food, but now he is talking about adding 25% to the cost of all kinds of products, including potatoes from Prince Edward Island in the Canadian Atlantic.
"It is important to understand that when Donald Trump makes statements like that, he intends to follow through with them. There is no doubt about it," said Trudeau before heading to Florida.
"Our responsibility is to point out that not only would it be harming Canadians, who work so well with the United States, but it would also be raising prices for American citizens and harming American industry and businesses," he added.
According to Nelson Wiseman, professor emeritus at the University of Toronto, Trump "doesn't need to be convinced that new tariffs on Canadian products would not be in the interest of the United States. He knows it, but he can't say it because it would diminish the value of what he has publicly stated. His goal is to project the image that he gets results when he speaks."
Those tariffs could essentially blow up the North American trade deal that Trump's team negotiated during his first term. Trudeau pointed out that they were able to successfully renegotiate the agreement, which he calls a "win-win" for both countries.
Trump made the threat of tariffs on Monday while mentioning the influx of migrants entering the country illegally, although the numbers at the Canadian border pale in comparison to those at the border between the United States and Mexico.
Trump also spoke about fentanyl coming from Mexico and Canada, even though seizures at the Canadian border are few compared to the Mexican border.
Canadian officials say that grouping Canada with Mexico is unfair, but they also say that they are ready to make new investments in border security.
When Trump imposed higher tariffs during his first term in office, other countries responded with their own retaliatory tariffs. Canada, for example, announced billions of new duties in 2018 against the United States in response to new taxes on Canadian steel and aluminum.
Canada is the top export destination for 36 states in the United States. Nearly 3.6 billion Canadian dollars (2.7 billion U.S. dollars) in goods and services cross the border each day.