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President-elect Donald J. Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on Canadian exports unless the country stops the flow of migrants and fentanyl to the U.S.
Dec. 27, 2024, 12:40 p.m. ET
Two top Canadian ministers will meet with members of President-elect Donald J. Trump’s circle in Florida on Friday about a border security plan that Canada hopes will ward off Mr. Trump’s threats to impose economically damaging tariffs on imports from Canada.
The meetings will build on a dinner Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had with Mr. Trump at Mar-a-Lago over the Thanksgiving weekend as well as on a recent telephone conversation between members of Mr. Trudeau’s cabinet and Thomas D. Homan, Mr. Trump’s designated border czar.
Mélanie Joly, Canada’s foreign minister, and Dominic LeBlanc, the former public safety minister who became finance minister last week turning a tumultuous political period for Mr. Trudeau, arrived in Florida on Thursday evening.
Jean-Sébastien Comeau, the spokesman for Mr. LeBlanc, said that the discussions would “focus on Canada’s efforts to combat fentanyl trafficking and illegal migration.” He added that the talks would also raise “the negative impacts that the imposition of 25 percent tariffs on Canadian goods would have on both Canada and the United States.”
Neither minister’s office offered any details about their schedules.
But a Canadian official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the arrangements, said Ms. Joly was expected to meet with Lindsey Graham, the Republican senator from South Carolina, on Friday, and that both ministers were likely to have talks with Howard Lutnick, Mr. Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary.
The Trump transition team did not respond to a request for information about the meetings.
Mr. Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on imports from Canada when he takes office in January unless the country reduces the flow of migrants and fentanyl into the United States. Such a move could be devastating for Canada, whose economy depends heavily on exports to the United States. Many Canadian industries are tightly integrated across the border.
