By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Canada’s new finance minister Dominic LeBlanc and Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly will meet aides to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in Florida on Friday to discuss the risks of imposing new trade tariffs, the Canadian government said.
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 U.S.
LeBlanc’s office said in a statement on Thursday that the two ministers would highlight “the negative impacts that the imposition of 25% tariffs on Canadian goods would have on both Canada and the United States.”
The office added that Friday’s meeting will also focus on Canada’s efforts to combat fentanyl trafficking and illegal migration.
The meeting will take place as Trump continues to belittle embattled Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on social media. On Christmas Day, he referred to the leader of the close U.S. ally as “Governor Justin Trudeau of Canada” and again alluded to the country becoming the 51st U.S. state.
Trudeau, whose party looks set to lose power early next year, is under increasing pressure from lawmakers in his own party to step down.
He flew to Florida in late November to meet with Trump after the Republican first vowed to slap new tariffs on Canada.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Ross Colvin and Nicholas Yong)
