TORONTO — A pair of high-ranking Canadian Cabinet ministers are set to visit Palm Beach, Florida, to engage in discussions concerning trade and border security with the incoming administration of Donald Trump. This meeting comes at a time when Trump has hinted at imposing tariffs on all goods originating from Canada.
The ministers visiting include new Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly. Their trip to Palm Beach is scheduled for Thursday, according to a spokesperson for LeBlanc, Jean-Sébastien Comeau.
LeBlanc has previously expressed plans to meet with Tom Homan, who will be responsible for border issues under Trump’s leadership, shortly after Christmas. The aim of this meeting is to outline Canada’s strategies for reinforcing border security while seeking to mitigate the anticipated tariffs.
Comeau stated that LeBlanc and Joly intend to build upon the conversations that occurred during the Prime Minister’s recent meeting with President Trump at Mar-a-Lago last month, as well as during recent discussions with Homan.
The ministers plan to concentrate on Canada’s initiatives aimed at curbing fentanyl trafficking and illegal immigration. They will also address the comprehensive measures outlined in Canada’s Border Plan, highlighting the potential adverse effects that a 25% tariff on Canadian products could have on both nations.
So far, there has been no response from Trump’s transition team regarding these talks.
Trump has taken to referring to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as the “governor of the 51st state,” while threatening significant tariffs unless Canada tackles what he perceives as a surge of migrants and narcotics entering the U.S. From Canada—despite statistics showing that far fewer migrants and drugs cross from Canada compared to Mexico, a country where Trump has also voiced concerns.
Canada has devised a billion-dollar initiative aimed at enhancing border security. LeBlanc mentioned that he has shared components of this plan with U.S. officials and remains hopeful, although he acknowledges there is substantial work to be done.
Also drawing Trump’s ire is the trade imbalance with Canada, which he mistakenly labels as a subsidy. According to Canada’s ambassador to the U.S., Kirsten Hillman, Canada had a trade surplus over the U.S. of $75 billion last year. Hillman pointed out that energy exports make up a significant portion of this surplus, especially when oil prices soar.
Approximately 60% of American crude oil imports and 85% of U.S. electricity imports originate from Canada. Daily, nearly $3.6 billion Canadian dollars (around $2.7 billion U.S. dollars) worth of goods and services flow across their shared border, making Canada the largest export market for 36 states within the U.S.
Disparities in drug trafficking and migrant flows are notable between the U.S.’s two borders. In the last fiscal year, U.S. customs reported the seizure of just 43 pounds of fentanyl at the Canadian border, contrasting sharply with over 21,000 pounds seized at the border with Mexico.
A majority of the fentanyl that enters the U.S.—linked to approximately 70,000 overdose deaths annually—originates from Mexico and is produced by drug cartels utilizing precursor chemicals imported from Asia.
On the topic of immigration, the U.S. Border Patrol logged 1.53 million encounters with migrants at the southwestern border with Mexico between October 2023 and September 2024, compared to just 23,721 encounters at the Canadian border during that same timeframe.
