Canada's Trudeau returns home after Trump meeting without assurances that tariffs are off the table

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau returned home Saturday after his meeting with Donald Trump without assurances the president-elect will back away from threatened tariffs on all products from the major American trading partner.

Trump called the talks "productive" but signalled no retreat from a pledge that Canada says unfairly lumps it in with Mexico over the flow of drugs and migrants into the United States.

After the leaders' hastily arranged dinner Friday night at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, Trudeau spoke of "an excellent conversation." Trump said in a Truth Social post later Saturday that they discussed "many important topics that will require both Countries to work together to address."

For issues in need of such cooperation, Trump cited fentanyl and the "Drug Crisis that has decimated so many lives as a result of Illegal Immigration," fair trade deals "that do not jeopardize American Workers" and the US trade deficit with its ally to the north.

Trump asserted that the prime minister had made "a commitment to work with us to end this terrible devastation" of American families from fentanyl from China reaching the United States through its neighbours.

The US, he said, "will no longer sit idly by as our Citizens become victims to the scourge of this Drug Epidemic."

The Republican president-elect has threatened to impose a 25 per cent tax on all products entering the US from Canada and Mexico as one of his first executive orders when he takes office in January.

US customs agents seized 43 pounds of fentanyl at the Canadian border last fiscal year, compared with 21,100 pounds at the Mexican border. On immigration, the US Border Patrol made 56,530 arrests at the Mexican border in October alone and 23,721 arrests at the Canadian border between October 2023 and September 2024 — and Canadian officials say they are ready to make new investments in border security.

Trudeau called Trump after the Republican's social media posts about the tariffs last Monday and they agreed to meet, according to a official familiar with the matter who was not authorised to publicly discuss detail of the private talks. The official said other countries are calling Canadian officials to hear how about how the meeting was arranged and to ask for advice.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, after speaking with Trump on the telephone, said Thursday she was confident a tariff war with Washington would be averted.

At the dinner that was said to last three hours, Trump said he and Trudeau also discussed energy, trade and the Arctic. A second official cited defence, Ukraine, NATO, China, the Mideast, pipelines and the Group of Seven meeting in Canada next year as other issues that arose.

Trudeau's office said in a statement that the leaders "shared a productive wide-ranging discussion" centring on "collaboration and strengthening our relationship," adding, "As Canada's closest friend and ally, the United States is our key partner, and we are committed to working together in the interests of Canadians and Americans.”

Trump, during his first term as president, once called Trudeau "weak" and "dishonest," but it was the prime minister who was the first G7 leader to visit Trump since the Nov. 5 election.

"Tariffs are a crucial issue for Canada and a bold move was in order. Perhaps it was a risk, but a risk worth taking," Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal.

Trudeau had said before leaving from Friday that Trump was elected because he promised to bring down the cost of groceries but now was talking about adding 25 per cent to the cost of all kinds of products, including potatoes from Prince Edward Island in Atlantic Canada.

"It is important to understand that Donald Trump, when he makes statements like that, he plans on carrying them out. There's no question about it," Trudeau said.

"Our responsibility is to point out that he would not just be harming Canadians, who work so well with the United States, but he would actually be raising prices for Americans citizens as well and hurting American industry and business," he added.

The threatened tariffs could essentially blow up the North American trade pact that Trump's team negotiated during his first term. Trudeau noted they were able to successfully renegotiate the deal, which he calls a "win win" for both countries.

When Trump imposed higher tariffs as president, other countries responded with retaliatory tariffs of their own. Canada, for instance, announced billions of new duties in 2018 against the US in a response to new taxes on Canadian steel and aluminum.

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 per cent of US crude oil imports are from Canada, and 85 per cent of US electricity imports are from Canada.

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 in for national security.

Canada is one of the most trade-dependent countries in the world, and 77 per cent of Canada's exports go to the US.