Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly on Wednesday said despite a “positive” meeting with her U.S. counterpart in Washington, it’s still unclear if U.S. President Donald Trump will follow through with tariffs on Canada this weekend.
Joly told reporters U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was receptive to her arguments that a 25 per cent tariff on all Canadian goods — which Trump has vowed to impose Saturday — would harm both countries, and that Canada is addressing concerns about border security and fentanyl trafficking.
Although she said she remains “cautiously optimistic” that a diplomatic solution can be reached to prevent the tariffs, Joly did not say if she got any assurances from Rubio that Trump has made up his mind either way.
“This is just the reality of dealing with the Trump administration, and we need to make sure that we’re ready to deal with that unpredictability,” Joly said during a virtual briefing.
She added she will remain in Washington for the rest of the week to keep making her case to Trump administration officials and lawmakers as the Feb. 1 deadline quickly approaches.
“We need to continue to engage,” Joly said, but noted “the ultimate decision-maker is President Trump.”
Joly said she still left her meetings in Washington on Wednesday with the impression that Canada’s arguments in favour of maintaining free trade and solving issues like fentanyl together are “resonating.”
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“I’m an optimistic person, and I think this was a very positive meeting,” she said about her sit-down with Rubio.
A readout of the meeting provided by the U.S. State Department said Rubio “commended Canada for challenging the CCP’s coercive and unfair economic practices,” using the acronym for the Chinese Community Party.
The statement said Rubio and Joly discussed collaboration on border and energy security and “reaffirmed cooperation to enhance safety and prosperity for both countries.”
Joly said she also met with Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, who co-chairs the American Canadian Economy and Security Caucus in the Senate.
Earlier Wednesday, Howard Lutnick, Trump’s nominee for U.S. commerce secretary who would oversee trade and tariff policies, said Canada and Mexico can avoid the 25 per cent tariffs if they crack down on fentanyl.
Joly and other Canadian officials point out that less than one per cent of fentanyl that enters the U.S. comes from Canada. However, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol data shows fentanyl seizures at the northern border have risen sharply in recent years.
Joly said Lutnick’s comments acknowledging Canada and Mexico are “acting swiftly” on the issue were “positive.”
Ottawa has rolled out a border security plan that includes additional investments in enforcement and detection of drug and human smuggling. New technologies and equipment, including Black Hawk helicopters, are among those investments.
Public Safety Minister David McGuinty said Canada should take Lutnick’s comments about border security “seriously” and at “face value,” but said he’s confident in the work the government has done to address those concerns.
“Canada’s border is strong, and we’re making it even stronger,” he told reporters in Ottawa, pointing to a number of police actions that have disrupted fentanyl labs, money laundering and human smuggling operations within Canada in recent weeks.
“When the new administration suggests that we need to bear down on this question of fentanyl, we don’t disagree. Where we really want to see progress is in cooperation, because we know the best way to tackle this crisis is to tackle it together.”
Those actions and arguments do not appear to have swayed Trump, who has pivoted to attacking the U.S. trade deficit with Canada — driven primarily by cheap oil imports — and imbalances in defence spending.
Joly said although Canada has a “good plan” to boost defence spending, “I think we need to do more and we need to do more quicker.”
The federal government has laid out plans to reach NATO’s target of spending at least two per cent of GDP on defence by 2032, but is looking at ways to speed up investments and procurements.
However, since his election in November, Trump has called on NATO to increase that target to five per cent — a level no member, including the U.S., currently meets.
Joly added there has been “unanimous” positive reactions in the U.S. to the government’s Arctic foreign policy and commitments to Arctic security, an issue Rubio brought up at his confirmation hearing earlier this month.
Joly spoke with Rubio by phone last week after his confirmation and described the new secretary of state as a “good interlocutor.”
Wednesday’s trip was Joly’s fifth visit to the U.S. since last November’s presidential election.
Joly and several other federal and provincial officials have met with multiple American lawmakers to talk about how the duties would damage the economies of both countries, and to share information about Canada’s border plan, implemented in response to Trump’s tariff threats.
Ottawa says it has prepared multiple options for retaliatory tariffs, depending on what Trump ultimately does.
—With files from the Canadian Press
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