Trudeau and Trump discuss trade, security issues in post-election phone call
'We look forward to working with president-elect Trump and his administration,' Trudeau says
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau congratulated U.S. president-elect Donald Trump on winning a second term during a phone call between the two on Wednesday evening.
The two leaders discussed "the enduring and successful partnership between Canada and the United States," as well as trade and security issues, according to an official readout from the Prime Minister's Office.
Trade largely took centre stage in the ten-minute conversation, according to a source familiar with the call.
Trudeau emphasized that the two countries have a positive trading relationship and pointed to the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) — which was negotiated during Trump's first term — as proof, sources said.
Trump asked the prime minister about the tariffs Canada has imposed on Chinese-made electric vehicles, steel and aluminum, the source said. The two also discussed other Chinese trade issues and Trump raised concerns about Chinese fentanyl in the U.S. market.
The two agreed to have their staff set up a meeting but the timing of that meeting is still up in the air, the source said.
The source said that, overall, the tone of the call was warm and friendly. The source said that Trudeau told Trump how his father had been defeated in an election before winning one shortly after — an anecdote to which Trump responded positively.
Trudeau released a statement earlier Wednesday congratulating Trump on winning back the U.S. presidency.
"Canada and the U.S. have the world's most successful partnership. We are neighbours and friends, united by a shared history, common values and steadfast ties between our peoples. We are also each other's largest trade partners and our economies are deeply intertwined," Trudeau said.
"We look forward to working with president-elect Trump and his administration, including on issues such as trade, investment, and continental peace and security," he said.
Speaking later to reporters on Parliament Hill, Trudeau said Trump won a "decisive" victory in Tuesday's presidential election and its incumbent on Canada to find common ground with the incoming president to "strengthen North American economic opportunities for the middle class" and "protect North America from the many, many challenges that exist around the world."
Trudeau was the first world leader to speak to President Joe Biden after he won back in 2020. Trudeau was also the first leader to speak to Biden after he was inaugurated.
Trudeau wasn't the first to get the Trump on the line Wednesday — Chinese President Xi Jinping reportedly spoke to Trump earlier in the day, according to CNN.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a social media post he had an "excellent" call with Trump in which he "congratulated him on his historic landslide victory — his tremendous campaign made this result possible."
Amid the uncertainty about bilateral relations, the Liberal Party's national caucus meeting today was "entirely and exclusively focused on the U.S.," MPs told CBC News.
The chiefs of staff for Trudeau's cabinet ministers also met to discuss the path forward, which could be bumpy given what Trump has planned.
Trump is on pace to easily win the popular vote and sweep all of the so-called battleground states where the race was expected to be close. That gives him a mandate to push ahead with an agenda that's heavy on protectionist policies, which could have some reverberations for long-time allies, such as Canada.
Trump has promised to slap tariffs on all imports, which experts have said would shave billions of dollars off Canada's GDP.
While he hasn't released many details of this proposed regime, Trump has said there will be a minimum 10 per cent tariff on all imports and an even higher rate of 60 per cent for Chinese-made goods.
He has said slapping a punitive tax on foreign goods will make products from abroad less competitive and spur domestic manufacturing. He's also floated using tariffs as a cudgel to extract trade and other concessions out of countries he's accused of ripping off the U.S.
In the closing days of his presidential campaign, Trump even suggested he'd raise tariffs so high that the U.S. could begin dismantling its income tax system, although some researchers have said that sort of swap would likely leave a huge hole in the budget and be painful for consumers who would be forced to pay much more for some goods.
"The most beautiful word in the dictionary is 'tariff,' it's more beautiful than 'love,' it's more beautiful than anything. This country can become rich with the proper use of tariffs," Trump said in a recent interview with podcaster Joe Rogan.
"I'm for having countries pay us billions and billions and trillions of dollars even," Trump said.
Kelly Craft, Trump's former ambassador to Canada, has said the country should prepare for what could be a more antagonistic bilateral relationship with the U.S. in her old boss's second term.
Trump's focus on building up American manufacturing and making NATO allies spend more on defence means Canada would need to make some policy changes to stay in America's good graces, Craft said.
"Canada, they need to buckle up," she said before Trump's win. "The whole world needs to buckle up because President Trump will continue his policies from 2016. We are going to make America great again and we will be bringing it back to where it was under the Trump presidency."
Poilievre says: 'Save our jobs'
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre also congratulated Trump, saying "the U.S. is Canada's best friend and biggest trading partner, and I will work with the president to benefit both countries."
Acknowledging there may be some economic uncertainty on the horizon, Poilievre said that his "mission" is to "save our jobs."
He said the federal Liberal government has to pivot on some of its policies now that Trump is poised to upend the status quo.
"Yesterday's result confirms we must cancel Trudeau's plan to quadruple the carbon tax and hike other taxes, which would push hundreds of thousands more jobs south where President Trump will be cutting taxes further. We must axe taxes," he said. "Save our jobs. Stand up for Canada."
- What questions do you have about how a second Trump term will affect Canadians? Send an email to ask@cbc.ca.
Poilievre pressed Trudeau in question period about the threat of job losses in Canada with tariffs looming.
Trudeau said his government dealt with Trump's tariffs in his first four-year term and got them lifted after levying retaliatory tariffs and convincing the Americans it wasn't in their best interests to target Canada.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, who did not offer his congratulations to Trump, said Trudeau needs to "fight back" against Trump and his tariffs and steadfastly oppose them at every turn.
"I am worried," Singh told reporters. "I am worried about the threats to Canadian jobs right now. I know those tariffs will literally mean Canadian jobs could be cut. It could be an increased cost for everything. It's a deeply concerning time."
Trudeau's fractious relationship with Trump
Trump and Trudeau have had a fractious relationship.
While Trudeau and his government successfully renegotiated NAFTA and saved Canada's most important trade agreement from ruin, it was a battle to get signatures on the dotted line.
Trump called Trudeau "two-faced" after the prime minister was heard on a hot mic mocking Trump's long-winded news conference following a NATO meeting.
After Trudeau said Canada would not be pushed around by Trump and would vigorously defend the country's interests in the face of U.S. tariffs, Trump blasted the prime minister on social media, calling him "very dishonest & weak," and torpedoed the leaders' communique after the G7 meeting in Charlevoix, Que.
John Bolton, Trump's former national security adviser, relayed in his book how Trump didn't like Trudeau and told his aides to attack the prime minister on the U.S. Sunday morning political shows.
Later, after losing the presidency, Trump aligned himself with the anti-mandate protesters who staged the trucker convoy that shut down much of downtown Ottawa.
"The Freedom Convoy is peacefully protesting the harsh policies of far left lunatic Justin Trudeau who has destroyed Canada with insane Covid mandates," Trump said in a statement.
Trudeau, while more diplomatic in his criticisms of Trump, has indicated he's no fan of the former president.
After Biden's victory, Trudeau told Trump's successor that "U.S. leadership has been sorely missed over the past years," especially on the issue of climate change.
"It's nice when the Americans are not pulling out all references to climate change and, instead, adding them in," Trudeau said.
Speaking to reporters in January, Trudeau said Trump "represents a certain amount of unpredictability."
He also told the Montreal Chamber of Commerce that month Trump's first term "wasn't easy and if there is a second time, it won't be easy either."
"There are clearly issues where I do not agree at all with Mr. Trump," he said.
'Canada will be absolutely fine': Freeland
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, who helped lead Canada's past NAFTA renegotiation efforts, said Wednesday Trump's victory "is a moment of great change for the world."
"We have to be candid about that," Freeland said.
But she said Canada is well prepared to meet the moment.
"I know that a lot of Canadians are anxious, a lot of Canadians have been anxious this week, throughout the night, I want to say with utter certainty and conviction to Canadians that Canada will be absolutely fine," she said.
"We have a strong relationship with the United States; we have a strong relationship with President Trump and his team. Let's remember that our trading relationship today is governed by the trade deal concluded by President Trump himself."
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With files from Rosemary Barton