By Josh Wingrove
Bloomberg News
(Bloomberg News) — Canada is studying adding more resources and personnel to its U.S. border after a Mar-a-Lago dinner between President-elect Donald Trump and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau aimed at heading off a tariff fight.
In a pair of social media posts, Trump and Trudeau struck upbeat tones, with Trump calling the meeting “very productive” and saying Trudeau pledged action. Trump has threatened a 25% tariff on American imports from Canada and Mexico unless the neighbors each do more to stem migration and fentanyl.
“I made it very clear that the United States will no longer sit idly by as our citizens become victims to the scourge of this Drug Epidemic, caused mainly by the Drug Cartels, and Fentanyl pouring in from China,” he said. “Prime Minister Trudeau has made a commitment to work with us to end this terrible devastation of U.S. Families.”
Despite the threat, the dinner wasn’t a hostile one. Trump and Trudeau posed for a grinning photo together, and the session lasted about three hours and covered a wide range of topics.
Kirsten Hillman, the Canadian ambassador to Washington who was at Mar-a-Lago with Trudeau, said Trump and Trudeau “discussed almost the universe of issues that are important to the incoming president.”
The dinner included U.S. Commerce Secretary and trade czar nominee Howard Lutnick, Interior Secretary nominee Doug Burgum and National Security Advisor nominee Michael Waltz. Trudeau’s delegation included Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Chief of Staff Katie Telford.
Trump and Trudeau discussed measures Canada has already taken to restrict visas, including those related to Mexico, and what other steps could be taken. Trudeau raised the possibility of more helicopters patrolling the border, one official said.
“Canada’s looking at additional technologies and personnel at the border” and will stay in touch with Trump’s teams in the coming days and weeks to hone a plan, Hillman said in an interview. “We are open and ready to do what we can together.”
Trump gave no specific indication at the dinner of whether he’d proceed with his tariff plans, one official said. And Hillman described it as “an important start to the conversation around the tariff threat.”
The fallout from any tariff move could be wide. Mexico has nodded to the prospect of retaliatory tariffs, and Canada may do the same, as it did during Trump’s first term when he applied more targeted levies.
“We will take the action we need to take to defend Canadian interests but we’re very hopeful it doesn’t get to some kind of a tariff tit-for-tat,” Hillman said.
Part of the discussion was about the state of the border, with Canadian officials distinguishing their country’s border from the Mexican-U.S. border.
“The facts of the U.S.-Canada border, if I can be blunt, bear virtually no resemblance to the facts of the U.S.-Mexico border,” Hillman said, adding that Canada, too, is grappling with the scourge of fentanyl deaths.
Trump’s tariff threats are wide ranging — he’s also pledged across-the-board tariffs of 10% on China, and on the weekend floated the notion of 100% tariffs on so-called BRICs nations, including China, if they move to try to displace the US dollar as the world’s dominant reserve currency.
Topics discussed during the dinner included trade, border security, fentanyl, Ukraine, NATO, Arctic icebreakers, China, pipeline projects and the Middle East, officials with knowledge of the meeting said. Trudeau, speaking briefly to press as he left his West Palm Beach hotel Saturday, called it “an excellent conversation.”
At one point, Trump began choosing a playlist, offering two versions of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah — a nod to the Canadian delegation — and playing other songs that were common at his rallies. Trump and Trudeau ate steak and mashed potatoes, while other menu options included meatloaf from a recipe by Mary Trump, the president-elect’s late mother.
Hillman, the ambassador, said it was chiefly a social dinner.
“It was three hours of reconnecting as leaders and discussing their goals and their priorities and what we can do,” she said.
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