By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Canada’s new finance minister Dominic LeBlanc and Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly met 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 United States.
LeBlanc’s office said in a statement after the meeting that it had a “positive, productive” engagement with Trump’s pick for Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick, and the president-elect’s pick for Interior Secretary, Doug Burgum.
LeBlanc’s office said a day earlier 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 meeting focused on Canada’s efforts to combat fentanyl trafficking and illegal migration and the ministers outlined efforts taken by Canada in that direction while agreeing to continue further talks in the coming weeks, the Canadian statement on Friday added.
Earlier this month, the Canadian government pledged to invest C$1.3 billion ($902.34 million) toward border security over six years under a plan that would focus on surveillance, intelligence and technology.
Friday’s meeting took 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.
($1 = 1.4407 Canadian dollars)
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Ross Colvin, Nicholas Yong and Diane Craft)
