Two Canadian ministers visit Florida to discuss border security and trade with the incoming administration of Donald Trump, who threatens to impose tariffs on all products imported from Canada.
Two Canadian cabinet ministers visit Florida to discuss border security and trade with the incoming administration of Donald Trump, who is threatening to impose tariffs on all goods imported from Canada.
Canadian Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly arrived in Palm Beach, Florida, on Thursday, where talks will be held this week, said Jean-Sébastien Comeau, a spokesman for LeBlanc.
LeBlanc said last week that after Christmas he would meet with Tom Homan, Trump's new “border czar,” to discuss Canada's plan to secure the border as part of its attempt to avoid tariffs.
Comeau said LeBlanc and Joly “look forward to continuing the discussions that took place when the prime minister met with President Trump at Mar-a-Lago last month, as well as the positive call the ministers had with Mr. Tom Homan this week.” month”.
“Ministers intend to focus on Canada's efforts to combat fentanyl trafficking and illegal immigration, and the measures outlined in Canada's Border Plan, as well as the negative impacts that the imposition of 25% tariffs on Canadian goods would have in both Canada and the United States,” Comeau added in a statement.
Trump's transition team did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
Trump continues to call Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “the governor of the 51st state” and has threatened to impose high tariffs if Canada does not stop what he calls a flow of immigrants and drugs into the United States.
Canada has a $1 billion plan to strengthen border security. LeBlanc discussed parts of the plan last week with U.S. officials and sounded optimistic but said they have a lot of work ahead of them.
Trump has also sparked controversy over the United States' trade deficit with Canada, mistakenly calling it a subsidy.
Canada's ambassador to Washington, Kirsten Hillman, has said the United States had a $75 billion trade deficit with Canada last year. But he noted that a third of what Canada sells to the United States are energy exports and that there is a deficit when oil prices are high.
Approximately 60% of US crude oil imports and 85% of US electricity imports come from Canada.
Nearly C$3.6 billion (US$2.7 billion) worth of goods and services cross the Canada-U.S. border every day. Canada is the main export destination for 36 states in the United States.
Migration flows and drug seizures are very different on the two land borders of the United States. U.S. customs agents seized 19.5 kilograms (43 pounds) of fentanyl at the Canadian border during the last fiscal year, compared to 9,570 kilograms (21,100 pounds) at the border with Mexico.
Most of the fentanyl that reaches the United States, where it causes around 70,000 overdose deaths a year, is manufactured by Mexican cartels with Asian precursor chemicals.
Regarding the immigration issue, the United States Border Patrol reported 1.53 million encounters with migrants on the border with Mexico between October 2023 and September 2024. In comparison, it reported 23,721 encounters with migrants on the border with Canada during the same period.