Canada’s Trudeau revives a Cabinet-level panel to address concerns about a Trump presidency

TORONTO (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday he is re-establishing a typical Cabinet committee connected Canada-U.S. relations to reside his administration’s concerns astir different Donald Trump presidency.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, who is besides nan country’s finance minister, will chair nan committee, which besides will see different apical officials including ministers of overseas affairs, nationalist information and industry.

“Following nan predetermination of President Donald Trump for a 2nd term, nan Cabinet Committee will attraction connected captious Canada-U.S. issues,” Trudeau’s agency said successful a connection Thursday.

Canada is 1 of nan astir trade-dependent countries successful nan world, and 75% of Canada’s exports spell to nan U.S.

During Trump’s first time, his move to renegotiate nan North American Free Trade Agreement, aliases NAFTA, and reports that he was considering a 25% tariff connected nan car assemblage were considered an existential threat successful Canada astatine nan time.

Trudeau called Trump connected Wednesday to congratulate him and nan 2 discussed nan caller free waste and acquisition woody Trump reached during his first word pinch Canada and Mexico, nan U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which replaced NAFTA.

Ottawa will soon person to attraction connected a scheduled reappraisal of nan statement successful 2026.

Although Trump erstwhile called Trudeau “weak” and “dishonest” during his first term, ties betwixt nan 2 countries person remained among nan closest successful nan world.

Freeland addressed reporters doubly connected Wednesday successful an effort to reassure Canadians.

“I cognize a batch of Canadians are anxious. I want to opportunity pinch utter sincerity and condemnation to Canadians that Canada will beryllium perfectly fine,” Freeland said.

“We person a beardown narration pinch nan United States. We person a beardown narration pinch President Trump and his team. Let’s retrieve that our trading narration coming is governed by nan waste and acquisition woody concluded by President Trump himself and his team,” Freeland said.

During nan caller predetermination campaign, Trump has projected tariffs of 10% to 20% connected overseas equipment — and successful immoderate speeches has mentioned moreover higher percentages.

Nelson Wiseman, a governmental subject professor astatine nan University of Toronto, said Canada should expect caller tariffs and unit to summation its subject budget.

According to NATO figures, Canada was estimated to beryllium spending 1.33% of GDP connected its subject fund successful 2023, beneath nan 2% target that NATO countries person group for themselves. Trudeau has said Canada will meet nan alliance’s target by 2032. Trump has urged NATO countries to boost their ain defense spending to easiness nan load connected nan U.S. to deter nan alliance’s enemies.

“I expect that nan free waste and acquisition woody will beryllium somewhat modified arsenic it was during Trump’s first presidency and not dramatically,” Wiseman said.

“Tariffs will wounded nan Canadian system economy but not cripple it. Canada has immoderate cards to play successful negotiations including countervailing tariffs, nan concerns of American business leaders, and Canada’s storehouse of captious minerals.”

The Canadian authorities notes nan U.S. and Canada are each other’s largest waste and acquisition partners pinch astir $3.6 cardinal Canadian (US$2.7 billion) worthy of equipment and services crossing nan separator each time successful 2023.

The ties betwixt nan 2 countries are without parallel anyplace successful nan world.

There is adjacent co-operation connected defense, separator information and rule enforcement, and a immense overlap successful culture, traditions and pastimes — pinch shared baseball, hockey, hoops and shot leagues. About 400,000 group transverse nan world’s longest world separator each time and astir 800,000 Canadians unrecorded successful nan U.S.

Robert Bothwell, a professor of Canadian history and world relations astatine nan University of Toronto, said Canadians should beryllium worried astir imaginable rash actions connected tariffs and trade.

“How would you consciousness if aged Uncle Donald was emotion whimsical 1 greeting and decided to do … oh, immoderate he’d conscionable heard connected Fox News?” Bothwell said.