Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau participates in a press conference regarding the Royal Mounted Police’s investigation into “violent criminal activity in Canada with links to India” at Parliament House in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, October 14, 2024.
Blair Gable | Reuters
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited President Donald Trump’s Florida resort on Friday to meet with the U.S. president-elect, days after Trump threatened to impose tariffs on Canadian imports over border-related concerns. did.
A Reuters witness said Trudeau, whose public itinerary does not include a planned visit to Florida, was seen leaving a hotel in West Palm Beach, Fla., for Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. It is said that it was witnessed.
Prime Minister Trudeau’s office and representatives for President Trump did not respond to requests for comment.
President Trump on Monday threatened to impose 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico until the two countries crack down on drugs, particularly fentanyl, and immigrants crossing the border with the United States.
Officials and major industry groups in Mexico, Canada and China have warned that the high tariffs threatened by President Trump will harm the economies of all countries involved, causing a spike in inflation and damaging the job market.
Any damage to Canada’s economy would deepen Trudeau’s woes, as his popularity has waned in part due to the economic slowdown and rising cost of living over the past few years. Opinion polls show Prime Minister Trudeau’s Liberal Party will lose to the opposition Conservative Party in the election, which must be held by late October 2025.
Prime Minister Trudeau this week pledged to remain united against President Trump’s tariff threats and convened a meeting with the premiers of all 10 Canadian provinces to discuss their relationship with the United States.
Canadian Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc is accompanying Prime Minister Trudeau, according to CBC News.
Canada is the world’s fourth largest oil producer and sixth largest natural gas producer. Most of the country’s 4 million barrels per day of crude oil exports go to the United States.
President Trump’s plan does not exempt crude oil from trade sanctions, two sources familiar with the plan told Reuters on Tuesday.
