President-elect Donald Trump is having dinner with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Friday evening at Mar-a-Lago, a source familiar with the meeting told CNN.
Some members of Trudeau’s cabinet are expected to join the dinner, a senior Canadian government official told CNN. Trudeau is expected to leave Mar-a-Lago shortly after the dinner.
The dinner comes just days after Trump promised massive hikes in tariffs on goods coming from Mexico and Canada starting on the first day of his administration, specifically calling for a 25% tariff on all products sent to the US.
Trump’s punishing tariffs, if enacted, could wreak havoc on America’s supply chains and industries reliant on goods from the country’s closest trading partners.
CNN previously reported that after the president-elect’s announcement, Trump and Trudeau had a brief call that was focused on border security and trade. A senior Canadian government source characterized the call as productive and told CNN that the two promised to stay in touch in the days to come.
During Trump’s first administration, the US and Canada at times had a rocky relationship, particularly on the issue of trade. Trump used tariffs against Canada during negotiations over replacing the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Many US imports from Canada and Mexico are exempted from tariffs because of the USMCA trade agreement among the three nations that Trump pushed for during his first administration. It’s not clear how Trump would plan to implement the proposed tariffs without violating the USMCA.
Earlier this week, Trump spoke with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum for the first time following Trump’s tariff announcement, but they have offered conflicting statements about the call.
Trump said Wednesday that Sheinbaum agreed to shut down the US-Mexico border, but Sheinbaum on Thursday denied doing so.
Sheinbaum has also suggested that Mexico would retaliate with counter-tariffs if Trump went through with his threat.
Trump has faced backlash over his tariff proposal in the recent days, including from President Joe Biden, who called it “counterproductive” and warned it could “begin to screw up” the US’ relationships with Canada and Mexico.
CNN’s Paula Newton, Kaanita Iyer and Jennifer Hansler contributed to this report.
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