On November 29, Canadian Prime Minister Justine Trudeau rushed to Florida to have dinner with US President-elect Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort, following Trump’s threats to impose a 25% tariff on goods coming from Mexico and Canada, unless the two countries take action to stop so-called illegal immigration and the flow of drugs into the United States.
As Trump wrote on November 26, “As everyone is aware, thousands of people are pouring through Mexico and Canada, bringing Crime and Drugs at levels never seen before. Right now a Caravan coming from Mexico, composed of thousands of people, seems to be unstoppable in its quest to come through our currently Open Border. On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25 percent Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders.”
Read: China and Mexico stand firm in the face of Trump’s tariff threats
Trudeau ventured all the way down to Florida to meet with Trump in person, but was vague regarding the details of what was discussed, merely thanking the President-elect for dinner in a post on X. Media reports indicate that Trump made several jabs at the Canadian president, including threatening to make Canada a 51st state of the United States.
Trump himself made several claims about what was discussed, writing on Truth Social that he and Trudeau “discussed many important topics that will require both Countries to work together to address, like the Fentanyl and Drug Crisis that has decimated so many lives as a result of Illegal Immigration, Fair Trade Deals that do not jeopardize American Workers, and the massive Trade Deficit the US has with Canada.”
“Prime Minister Trudeau has made a commitment to work with us to end this terrible devastation of US Families,” Trump added.
In response to Trump’s tariff threats against Canada, Mexico and China, Canadian officials have attempted to distance themselves from Mexico. Kirsten Hillman, Canada’s ambassador to the United States said on December 1 that Trudeau made clear to Trump during Friday’s Mar-a-Lago dinner that Canada’s border should not be compared to Mexico’s.
“The message that our border is so vastly different than the Mexican border was really understood,” Hillman said in an Associated Press interview. “The facts are hard to deny,” Hillman said regarding the differences between the two countries.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum reacted to these comments on Monday, December 2. “Mexico must be respected, especially by its trading partners,” Sheinbaum said. Sheinbaum highlighted Canada’s own problems with the consumption of fentanyl and said that Canada “could only wish they had the cultural riches Mexico has.”
Sheinbaum had also spoken to Trump last week over the phone, after which the President-elect declared that the Mexican president had agreed to “stop Migration through Mexico … effectively closing our Southern Border.” Sheinbaum herself refuted this account, stating that she has no plan to close borders, but instead planned to “not “build bridges between governments and people.”
Read: Claudia Sheinbaum stands up to Donald Trump, calls for respect of migrants’ human rights
On November 26, Sheinbaum penned a strongly worded letter to President-elect Trump regarding his strongman rhetoric against migrants coming through the US-Mexico border and read sections of it aloud in her daily morning news briefing the mañanera. “President Trump, migration and drug consumption in the United States cannot be addressed through threats or tariffs,” Sheinbaum wrote. “What is needed is cooperation and mutual understanding to tackle these significant challenges.”
“70% of the illegal weapons seized from criminals in Mexico come from your country. We do not produce these weapons, nor do we consume synthetic drugs. Tragically, it is in our country that lives are lost to the violence resulting from meeting the drug demand in yours,” the Mexican president articulated.
Trump reacts to de-dollarization trend
Trump has also threatened a 100% tariff on the BRICS nations of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the UAE, if those countries move to create a currency alternative to the dollar or back an alternative currency.
“We require a commitment from these Countries that they will neither create a new BRICS Currency, nor back any other Currency to replace the mighty U.S. Dollar or, they will face 100% Tariffs, and should expect to say goodbye to selling into the wonderful U.S. Economy,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
On Tuesday, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian responded to Trump’s 100% tariff threat, stating that, “BRICS, as an important platform for emerging markets and developing countries to cooperate, advocates openness and inclusiveness, win-win cooperation, non-confrontation and not targeting any third party.”
“China is willing to work with BRICS partners to deepen pragmatic cooperation in various industries and make more contributions for sustained global economic growth,” she said.
