Joly, LeBlanc to talk border security and trade with Trump’s team in Florida

Two federal government ministers are visiting the Palm Beach area in Florida Friday to discuss border security and trade with senior Republicans who are part of U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s team.

Both Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly and Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc have meetings in the vicinity of the town, where Mr. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence is located and where some of his associates and nominees are camped out.

Mr. Trump has repeatedly targeted Canada in social-media posts and remarks since winning the November presidential election – paying more attention to this country than he did during his first term. He’s threatened steep tariffs over illegal migration and drug smuggling and complained about an imbalance in two-way trade.

He has also expressed a persistent desire to annex Canada, making it the “51st state” and has mocked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as Canada’s governor – remarks that some federal officials have so far shrugged off as jokes. On Christmas Day, Mr. Trump suggested in a post that the United States should take control of Greenland, the Panama Canal and Canada.

Ms. Joly is expected to meet with Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and both ministers are planning to meet with Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick, Mr. Trump’s nominee for U.S. commerce secretary.

Mr. Trump, who takes office Jan. 20, has vowed to impose 25-per-cent tariffs on Canada and Mexico if they do not clamp down on illegal migration and the smuggling of the opioid fentanyl into U.S. territory.

He has repeatedly complained about Canada’s trade deficit with the United States, an amount that on an annual basis recently stood at $100-million. Mr. Trump erroneously calls this deficit a subsidy and has several times suggested in social-media posts that a political union of Canada and the United States would eliminate this problem.

Responding to Mr. Trump’s migration and drug concerns, the Prime Minister visited Mar-a-Lago for a meeting Nov. 29 and Ottawa earlier this month announced a $1.3-billion plan to reinforce border security, including an aerial intelligence task force with more helicopters and drones, and measures to curb the fentanyl trade. Canada also plans to recruit another 100 to 150 more people for the RCMP and the Canada Border Services Agency.

Brian Clow, the deputy chief of staff to the Prime Minister, also met with Trump team members at Mar-a-Lago on Christmas Eve.

One of the goals of this week’s meetings is to determine if Mr. Trump is satisfied with the new border investments that Ottawa has announced. The federal government spoke with Tom Homan, Mr. Trump’s nominee for border czar, on Dec. 16 to give him a preview of the new security spending.

Ms. Joly and Mr. LeBlanc “look forward to building on the discussions that took place when the Prime Minister met with President Trump at Mar-a-Lago last month, as well as the positive call the Ministers held with Mr. Tom Homan earlier this month,” Jean-Sébastien Comeau, director of communications for Mr. LeBlanc, said in a statement.

“The ministers intend to focus on Canada’s efforts to combat fentanyl trafficking and illegal migration and the measures outlined in Canada’s border plan, as well as the negative impacts that the imposition of 25-per-cent tariffs on Canadian goods would have on both Canada and the United States.”

Ms. Joly, who has built a relationship with Mr. Graham, the South Carolina senator and an ally of Mr. Trump, helped arrange the Dec. 16 Homan call. Mr. Graham also joined this call.

Mr. Homan later told CTV News that he feels Canada’s immigration laws are too lax but sounded a positive note about border investments. “Of course, actions have to follow, but I’m very optimistic from the conversation I had that we’re going to come up with a good border-security plan,” Mr. Homan said.

The federal government’s message to the Trump team behind the scenes is that Ottawa is happy to let the incoming administration claim victory for triggering more border investments by Canada, a source familiar with the matter said. Ottawa also continues to press the message that illegal migration and drug smuggling from Canada into the United States is a small fraction of the problem posed by Mexico.

On the trade deficit, the Canadians are telling Mr. Trump’s entourage that the imbalance is largely caused by Canada’s significant oil and natural gas sales to the Americans – something that is a tremendous benefit to the United States, the source said. The message is: We are your friend. We’re not Russia or China, the source said. The Globe and Mail is not identifying the source because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter.

Canada is the largest foreign source of energy for the U.S. Exports to the United States of crude oil, natural gas and natural-gas liquids in 2023 totalled about $152-billion, according to the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.

Mr. Trump, who prompted Canada and Mexico to renegotiate the North American free-trade agreement, had in 2018 declared that the revised deal, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, would tilt the playing field more in the Americans’ favour, calling it the “most balanced trade agreement in the history of our country.”

He is expected to push for a renegotiation of the USMCA as the deadline for its renewal comes up in 2026.