Canada’s ambassador to the U.S. said Sunday that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was successful in getting President-elect Donald Trump and his top Cabinet nominees to understand that Canada’s merger with Mexico is unfair because of the flow of drugs and migrants to the U.S.
Kirsten Hillman, Canada’s ambassador to Washington, told the Associated Press in an interview about Trudeau Dinner with Trump Friday was a very important step in Trump’s push back threatened tariffsIn all products of America’s main trading partner.
Hillman was at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida and sat at a table next to Trudeau and Trump.
Trump He threatened to impose tariffs on products from Canada and Mexico unless they stopped what he called the flow of drugs and migrants across its borders. In a social media post last Monday, he said he would impose a 25% tax on all products Entering the US from Canada and Mexico as one of his first executive orders.
Hillman said Trudeau asked to see Trump in person in a phone call on Monday and that Trump invited him to dinner on Friday.
At the dinner, Hillman told Trump that there is no comparison between the Canada-US border and the Mexico-US border.
“The message that our border is very different than the Mexican border really got across,” Hillman said.
Hillman said most of Friday night’s dinner focused on Trump’s border concerns. The ambassador said Trudeau’s priority was to highlight the level of inequality.
Hillman said there is no comparison, noting that there is essentially no fentanyl traffic from Canada to the United States. He said there are confiscations, but authorities say they are confiscations for personal use and not criminal trafficking. U.S. authorities said 99.8 percent of the fentanyl seized in the U.S. comes from Mexico.
“Also, in terms of people crossing illegally, last year Canada had less than one percent, 0.6 percent of all Canadian apprehensions,” Hillman said.
US customs agents seized 43 kilograms of fentanyl at the Canadian border last fiscal year, compared to 21,100 kilograms at the Mexican border. As for immigration, the US Border Patrol made 56,530 apprehensions at the Mexican border in October alone and 23,721 apprehensions at the Canadian border between October 2023 and September 2024, and Hillman said migrant numbers have been declining since the summer.
“Facts are hard to deny,” Hillman said.
But Hillman said Canada is ready to make new investments in border security and there are plans for helicopters, drones and law enforcement.
He also pointed to an agreement between Canada and the United States that allows migrants crossing illegally into the United States to be returned to Canada. He said it was talked about. He said Mexico and the US do not have a similar agreement.
During the three-hour dinner, Hillman said that America’s trade deficit with Canada had also increased. Hillman said the U.S. ran a $75 billion trade deficit with Canada last year, but noted that a third of what Canada sells to the U.S. is energy exports and prices have been high.
“They’re something that trade balances focus on, so it’s important to engage in that conversation but put it in context,” Hillman said.
“We’re one-tenth the size of the U.S., so a balanced trade deal would mean we’re buying 10 times more per capita from the U.S. than they’re buying from us. If that’s his metric, we’re definitely going to work on that.”
Trump and Trudeau were joined at the dinner by Howard Lutnick, Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, Trump’s pick to lead the Interior Department, Mike Waltz, Trump’s pick to be his national security adviser, and the wives of the three men.
David was also at the dinner McCormickThe newly elected US senator from Pennsylvania and his wife, Dina Powell, a former deputy national security adviser under Trump, as well as Canada’s Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, whose responsibilities include border security, and Katie Telford, Trudeau’s chief of staff.
Hillman said Canadian and incoming Trump administration officials will work on Trump’s concerns in the coming weeks. Trump called “productive” speaks in a social media post on Sunday, but indicated that it had not backed down from its tariff commitment.
Hillman said Trump and Trudeau “get along well” and that the dinner was also an opportunity to socialize. Trump said he used his iPad to play music and Trump told Trudeau that he is a big fan of Canadian singer Celine Dion.
“I don’t think it could have been better to be honest. OK, I’ll take that back, I’ll change that. If he had clearly said there would be no tariffs they would have been better but there was no realistic expectation of that,” Hillman said.
Canada is the top export destination for 36 US states. Almost 3.6 billion Canadian dollars (2.7 billion USD) in goods and services cross the border every day.
About 60% of US crude oil imports come from Canada, and 85% of US electricity imports come from Canada.
Canada is also the largest supplier of steel, aluminum and uranium to the US and has 34 critical minerals and metals that the Pentagon is passionate about and investing in for national security.
Canada is one of the most trade-dependent countries, with 77% of Canadian exports going to the US.
