Trade deficit: Trump’s team agrees to take Canada’s border-security plan to president-elect
Two of Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees have agreed to take Ottawa’s border-investment plan to the U.S. president-elect after a Friday meeting at Mar-a-Lago with Canadian government ministers, Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said.
The Canadians met Howard Lutnick, Mr. Trump’s pick for secretary of commerce, and Doug Burgum, nominee for energy czar and secretary of the interior, at Mr. Trump’s Florida residence in Palm Beach.
A senior Canadian official, however, said the Americans remain fixated on Canada’s trade deficit with the United States and feel it needs to shrink. The Globe and Mail is not naming the official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
Canada’s trade deficit with the United States on an annual basis had reached $100-billion as of early December.
The federal government has yet to obtain assurances from Mr. Trump that he is satisfied with new border-security investments Ottawa unveiled this month in response to his threats of steep tariffs if Canada failed to address illegal migration and drug smuggling into American territory.
Mr. LeBlanc said “it’s too early to determine” if the new border investments Ottawa announced Dec. 17 are sufficient for Mr. Trump, who last month said he would impose 25-per-cent tariffs on products from Canada unless action were taken on the border.
“I am encouraged by their commitment to take it to the president and to continue to the conversation again, hopefully in short order,” the minister said.
Mr. Lutnick is also co-chair of Mr. Trump’s transition team.
Ms. Joly, who has built a relationship with Trump ally Senator Lindsey Graham, was also scheduled to meet with him Friday. She said the South Carolina senator has big plans for a border-security bill to address the U.S.-Mexico border and Ottawa is willing to work with him to address the northern Canada-U.S. border as well.
Asked if he thought Canada had made its case, Mr. LeBlanc said: “I think we had two very senior people in the future administration who listened carefully and were attentive and interested in what we could do in partnership with the United States.”
Mr. Trump has repeatedly targeted Canada in social-media posts and remarks since winning the November presidential election – paying more attention to this country than he did during his first term. He’s threatened to impose tariffs and complained about an imbalance in two-way trade.
He has also expressed a persistent desire to annex Canada, making it the “51st state” and has mocked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as Canada’s governor – remarks that some federal officials have so far shrugged off as jokes. On Christmas Day, Mr. Trump suggested in a post that the United States should take control of Greenland, the Panama Canal and Canada.
Mr. LeBlanc and Ms. Joly said Mr. Trump’s references to annexing Canada did not come up in their meeting with Mr. Lutnick and Mr. Burgum, who is also a former governor of North Dakota, a border state.
The Finance Minister said the Mar-a-Lago conversation instead dealt with “serious issues.” Ms. Joly said the Canadian focus was on jobs and Canadian interests. “That’s exactly why we’re coming out of our vacation on a rainy Florida day to meet with the team and to make sure that we’re creating these relationships.”
Responding to Mr. Trump’s migration and drug concerns, Mr. Trudeau visited Mar-a-Lago for a meeting with the president-elect Nov. 29 and Ottawa earlier this month announced a $1.3-billion plan – spending over six years – to reinforce border security, including an aerial intelligence task force with more helicopters and drones, and measures to curb the fentanyl trade. Canada also plans to recruit another 100 to 150 more people for the RCMP and the Canada Border Services Agency.
Tom Homan, Mr. Trump’s nominee for border czar, told CTV News earlier this month he feels Canada’s immigration laws are too lax but sounded a positive note about border investments. “Of course, actions have to follow, but I’m very optimistic from the conversation I had that we’re going to come up with a good border-security plan,” Mr. Homan said.
Mr. LeBlanc said he and Ms. Joly described the new border measures in considerable detail for Mr. Lutnick and Mr. Burgum. He said the Canadians talked of their interest in greater control and regulation over precursor chemicals used to illegally manufacture the opioid fentanyl and Ottawa’s recent proposal to create a new “North American joint strike force” with the United States to target transnational organized crime and illegal drugs.
The minister said they also talked of ways to raise the profile of border-security measures. “Can we add adrenalin to it? Can we add more of a visible posture to it?” Mr. LeBlanc said.
“They listened very carefully. It was a good conversation in the sense they were interested, listened to the details, and said they would take it back to the president and go through it with him.”
This article was first reported by The Globe and Mail
