Trudeau To Meet With Canadian Opposition Leaders To Discuss US Relations After Trump Tariff Threat

Toronto: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will have a meeting with all opposition leaders to discuss US-Canada relations after President-elect Donald Trump threatened sweeping tariffs on all Canadian products.

A source familiar with the matter said the meeting will happen early Wednesday afternoon. The person spoke on condition of anonymity they were not authorised to speak publicly on the matter.

Trudeau successfully employed a “Team Canada” approach during Trump's first term in office when the free trade deal between Canada, the US and Mexico was renegotiated. But Trudeau's minority government is in a much weaker position politically now and faces an election within a year.

"I would appeal to the opposition leaders, if you look at the history of Canada, we have always stood together when it comes to talking with one voice to the world," Industry Minister Fran?ois-Philippe Champagne said.

"The current leader of the opposition should learn from history. The best way to promote Canada's interest, our workers and our industry, is to speak with one voice.” Trudeau returned home after a dinner at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Florida on Friday without assurances the president-elect would back away from threatened tariffs on all products from the major American trading partner.

The Republican president-elect has threatened to impose a 25% tax on all products entering the US from Canada and Mexico unless they stem the flow of migrants and drugs.

Trump called Friday's talks “productive” but signaled no retreat from his pledge to enact the tariffs as one of his first executive orders when he takes office in January.

Canada, which says Trump is unfairly lumping it in with Mexico, is one of the most trade-dependent countries in the world, and 77% of Canada's exports go to the US.

During Trump's first term, his move to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA, and reports that he was considering a 25% tariff on the auto sector were considered an existential threat in Canada.

Kirsten Hillman, Canada's ambassador to Washington, told The Associated Press on Sunday that Trudeau was successful in getting Trump and key Cabinet nominees to understand that there is no comparison between the Canada-US border and Mexico-US border.

Hillman, who sat at an adjacent table to Trudeau and Trump, said Canada is ready to make new investments in border security and there are plans for more helicopters, drones and law enforcement officers.

The flows of migrants and seizures of drugs are vastly different. US customs agents seized 43 pounds of fentanyl at the Canadian border during the last fiscal year, compared with 21,100 pounds at the Mexican border.

Most of the fentanyl reaching the US — where it causes about 70,000 overdose deaths annually — is made by Mexican drug cartels using precursor chemicals smuggled from Asia.

On immigration, the US Border Patrol reported 1.53 million encounters with irregular migrants at the southwest border with Mexico between October 2023 and September 2024. That compares to 23,721 encounters at the Canadian border during that time.

Canada is the top export destination for 36 US states. Nearly $3.6 billion Canadian (US$2.7 billion) worth of goods and services cross the border each day.

About 60% of US crude oil imports are from Canada, and 85% of US electricity imports as well.

Canada is also the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum and uranium to the US and has 34 critical minerals and metals that the Pentagon is eager for and investing for national security.