Trump, Trudeau to meet in Washington

By Barry Ellsworth

TRENTON, Ont. (AA) - The long-awaited encounter between Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Donald Trump will take place in Washington next week, the prime minister’s office announced Thursday.

The two leaders spoke by telephone following the deadly shooting at a Quebec City mosque last month but this will be the first face-to-face meeting of the leaders.

“The Prime Minister and President Trump will be meeting in Washington, D.C. on Monday, February 13th, 2017,” Kate Purchase, Trudeau’s director of communications, said in an email. as reported by Global television news. “They look forward to discussing the unique relationship between Canada and the United States of America, and how we can continue to work hard for middle class Canadians and Americans, together.”

Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau is currently in Washington. His visit follows that of Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and Defense Minister Harjot Sajjan earlier this week.

The high-level visits precede Trudeau to allow officials to feel out reactions of American officials to Canada, particularly regarding trade, reported the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).

“This week’s visits are really smart scene-setters for that eventual meeting between the prime minister and the president,” Paul Frazer, a former Canadian diplomat who runs a private consulting firm in the American capital, told the CBC.

Trudeau also spoke by telephone on Jan. 21 to Trump, congratulating him on his inauguration, CTV television news reported.

At that time, the leaders “reiterated the importance of Canada-United States bilateral relationship, and discussed various areas of interest,” CTV reported.

Trade is expected to be a major topic for discussion.

Trump has said he wants to renegotiate a better deal for the U.S. by revamping the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that covers trade between the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

As well, Canada is concerned about a possible border tax being applied on Canadian goods that enter the U.S.

Following her two-day visit that ended Wednesday, Freeland said Canada would retaliate if any new tariffs are imposed.

“I did make clear that we would be strongly opposed to any imposition of new tariffs between Canada and the United States,” Freeland told reporters after talks with U.S. officials.