Canada’s ambassador says Trudeau told Trump the Canadian border can’t be compared to Mexico’s
TORONTO — Canada’s ambassador to the United States said Sunday that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has succeeded in making President-elect Donald Trump and key Cabinet nominees understand that it is unfair to lump Canada with Mexico over the flow of drugs and migrants into the US.
Kirsten Hillman, Canada’s ambassador to Washington, told The Associated Press in an interview that Trudeau’s dinner with Trump Friday marked a key step in the effort to stop Trump from withdrawing threatened rates on all products of the major American trading partner.
Hillman was at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida and sat at a table next to Trudeau and Trump.
Trump threatened to impose tariffs on products from Canada and Mexico if they don’t stop what he called the flow of drugs and migrants across their borders. He said in a social media post last Monday that he would impose a 25% tax on all products enter the US from Canada and Mexico as one of his first executive orders.
Hillman said Trudeau wanted to speak to Trump personally on Monday and that Trump invited him to dinner on Friday.
During the dinner, Hillman told Trump there is no comparison between the Canada-US border and the Mexico-US border.
“The message that our border is so completely different from the Mexican border was really understood,” Hillman said.
Hillman said most of Friday night’s dinner revolved around Trump’s concerns about the border. The ambassador said it was a priority for Trudeau to point out the extent of the difference.
Hillman said there really is no comparison, noting that there is essentially no trafficking of fentanyl from Canada to the United States. She said seizures are happening, but authorities say these are for personal use and not criminal trafficking. She said 99.8% of the fentanyl seized by U.S. authorities in the U.S. comes from Mexico.
“Also with regard to individuals, illegal individuals crossing the border illegally, Canada was less than one percent last year, 0.6 percent of total interceptions from Canada,” Hillman said.
U.S. Customs agents seized 43 pounds of fentanyl at the Canadian border last year, compared to 21,100 pounds at the Mexican border. On the immigration front, U.S. Border Patrol made 56,530 arrests at the Mexican border in October alone and 23,721 arrests at the Canadian border between October 2023 and September 2024 — and Hillman said migrant numbers have been declining since the summer.
“The 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 more helicopters, drones and law enforcement.
She also noted an agreement between Canada and the United States that allows migrants caught crossing illegally into the United States to be returned to Canada. She said that had been discussed. She said Mexico and the US do not have a similar agreement.
During the three-hour dinner, Hillman said the U.S. trade deficit with Canada had also increased. Hillman said the U.S. had 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.
“Trade balances are something he’s focused on, so it’s important to have that conversation but put it in context,” Hillman said.
“We are one-tenth the size of the United States, so a balanced trade deal would mean that we buy ten times more from the US per capita than they buy from us. If that is his benchmark, we will certainly deal with it.”
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 Department of the Interior, Mike Waltz, Trump’s pick to lead his national to become a security advisor, and the wives of the three men.
Also present at the dinner were David McCormick, just-elected U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania, and his wife Dina Powell, a former deputy national security adviser under Trump, as well as Canadian Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, whose responsibilities include border security, and Katie Telford. , Trudeau’s chief of staff.
Hillman said Canadian and new Trump administration officials will work on Trump’s concerns in the coming weeks. Trump mentioned the talk “productively” in a social media post on Sunday, but indicated he was not backing away from his tariff promise.
Hillman said Trump and Trudeau “get along great” and that the dinner was also a chance to socialize. She said Trump used his iPad to play music and she said Trump told Trudeau he is a big fan of Canadian singer Celine Dion.
“I don’t think it could have gone better to be honest. Okay, I take that back, I’ll change that. If he had clearly said there would be no tariffs that would have been better, but there was no realistic expectation of that,” Hillman said.
Canada is the main export destination for 36 US states. Nearly $3.6 billion Canadian (US$2.7 billion) worth of goods and services cross the border every day.
About 60% of U.S. crude oil imports come from Canada, and 85% of U.S. electricity imports come from Canada.
Canada is also the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum and uranium to the US and has 34 critical minerals and metals that the Pentagon covets and invests in for national security.
Canada is one of the most trade-dependent countries in the world, with 77% of Canadian exports going to the US.