At a meeting Wednesday with Trump’s deputy chief of staff, James Blair, and Sergio Gor, director of the Presidential Personnel Office, the Canadians insisted their country is a willing economic partner, while also a sovereign nation that will never join the United States as the 51st state, The Globe and Mail reported.
The 13 prime ministers, along with federal Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc, also met with U.S. lawmakers and business leaders to discuss tariffs, while Canada’s ambassador to the United States, Kirsten Hillman, met Wednesday with U.S. Commerce Secretary nominee Howard Lutnick and White House top economic adviser Kevin Hassett.
The prime ministers’ trip to Washington coincided with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau making similar arguments in Brussels, where he attended a meeting of Canadian and European Union leaders. Trudeau warned that punitive tariffs would cost jobs in the United States and reiterated that Canada will respond if the order issued by President Donald Trump goes into effect on Thursday.
The visit by provincial and federal officials ended a campaign that began in November, when Donald Trump said he would impose a 25 percent tariff on all Canadian and Mexican products.
Although the Republican magnate indicated that the measure will remain on hold, he later announced the application of the measure as of March 12 for steel and aluminum imports, including those from Canada.
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