Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wrapped up a call with his U.S. counterpart midday Wednesday, and there are expected to be more discussions between the two leaders’ teams throughout the afternoon.
It’s the first time the two have spoken since U.S. President Donald Trump launched a trade war yesterday with devastating tariffs on all Canadian goods.
The exact details of what Trudeau and Trump discussed are not yet known.
A spokesperson for Trudeau would only say they spoke about “trade and fentanyl.”
Teams from both nations will continue to hold discussions on Wednesday, said the source, who did not give details.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Vice President JD Vance were also on the call, the source said.
In a social media post after the call, Trump said he told Trudeau that Canada’s work to tamp down on fentanyl was “not good enough.”
The U.S. government’s own data shows Canada is not a significant source of illegal fentantyl with less than 20 kilograms of the drug seized at the northern border last year. A $1.3-billion border plan launched last year has led to steep declines so far this year.
Canadian border officials actually captured more drugs coming in from the U.S. than what their American counterparts caught going south, according to data from both countries.
Despite his gripes, Trump said the call with Trudeau ended in a “somewhat friendly manner.”
Trump said he was puzzled about why Trudeau couldn’t say when the next federal election would be, saying it “made me curious, like, what’s going on here?”
There’s a simple explanation for why the prime minister couldn’t say when that vote will happen — it isn’t Trudeau’s decision to make.
The choice of when to go to the polls will fall to his successor, who will be named at Sunday’s Liberal leadership event.
Canada is trying to get Trump to back down from his plan to effectively torpedo free trade between the two countries. Trump is supposedly looking to make some changes to the trade action he took just 24 hours ago.
Trump’s steep 25 per cent levy on virtually all Canadian goods has rattled markets and consumer confidence on both sides of the border.
The call comes as the federal government grapples with the usual chaotic situation out of Trump’s Washington. The president’s advisers suggested at different points over the last 12 hours that there could be a compromise on tariffs, only to say later that tariffs will still apply but maybe at a lower rate.
After U.S. stock market plummeted once Trump slapped tariffs on Canada and Mexico. Lutnick appeared on Fox News Business Tuesday saying he’s working on a plan to “meet in the middle” on tariffs, without offering any clarity on what exactly that means.
Speaking to Bloomberg Television on Wednesday morning, Lutnick said “there will be tariffs, let’s be clear.”
“But what we’re talking about is what sections of the market he’ll maybe consider giving them relief until we get to April 2,” he said, referring to Trump’s plan to impose even more tariffs next month on countries he thinks are ripping off the U.S.
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