Following the tariff threat, Canada's Trudeau travels to Florida for a meeting with Trump.

As the incoming US leader threatens to impose tariffs on neighboring nations unless they stop the flow of illegal drugs, Trudeau is meeting with Trump.

As the incoming US leader threatens to impose new tariffs on neighboring countries unless they stop the flow of illegal drugs and undocumented migrants across borders, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is meeting with President-elect Donald Trump on Friday, according to people familiar with their plans.

Prior to his meeting with Trump, Trudeau arrived in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Friday night. Details about the meeting were shared by those with knowledge of the plans, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

In order to defend US borders, which is a major worry of voters in November's presidential election, Trump earlier this week pledged to impose more tariffs on China, Canada, and Mexico. If they didn't take action, the president-elect threatened to put 25% tariffs on all imports from Canada and Mexico and 10% more on goods from China.

Markets have been agitated by Trump's first concrete threat to halt international trade flows since his election. Trump's warnings on his Truth Social network caused the value of the Canadian currency to plummet. According to a government person with knowledge of the situation, Trudeau called the president-elect that evening to talk trade and border security.

According to the Canadian prime minister, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the number of migrants entering the US from Mexico is far greater than those entering the country across the border. In the past several days, Canadian officials have also been quick to state that they are collaborating closely with the United States to stop the distribution of fentanyl, a lethal synthetic opioid that sparked a public health crisis in the US.

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data, the amount of fentanyl confiscated at the Mexican border since early 2022 is approximately 1,000 times more than that seized at the Canadian border.

Previously: Trump's Tariff Opening Attack Reexamines the First-Term Playbook

To allay Trump's fears, Trudeau is still facing domestic pressure to increase defense expenditure and border security. Following a meeting of the premiers and prime minister, Doug Ford, the leader of Ontario, Canada's most populous province, stated that he had been pressuring Trudeau for months to demonstrate that Canada will take steps to allay US security and economic concerns.

Trudeau will meet Trump in person for the first time since the US election, making him the first leader of the Group of Seven to do so.

"It's really powerful symbolism that Trudeau went down to Palm Beach on his knees and said, 'Please don't,'" said Fen Hampson, an international affairs professor at Carleton University in Ottawa.

"Trudeau must deliver on this, and the stakes are extremely high," Hampson stated. "If not, Canadians will view it as a failed mission because we all know that he is not going down there to bast the turkey for Trump."

In addition to being the largest external supplier of crude oil to the US, sending millions of barrels per day to refineries in the Midwest and beyond, Canada and the US have one of the greatest bilateral trading partnerships in the world, valued at over $900 billion annually. If Trump fulfills his promise to impose substantial taxes on US imports, economists predict that Mexico and Canada will suffer the worst economic setbacks.

Trump has made tariffs a key component of his economic strategy, promising to apply them universally to both US allies and enemies in order to compel concessions and compel companies to relocate industrial jobs. The charges, according to mainstream economists, are likely to decrease or reroute trade flows, fail to generate the anticipated money, and threaten to increase consumer costs.

Additionally, tariffs on Canada and Mexico run the risk of rekindling a trade spat that began during Trump's first term in office, when he compelled the North American Free Trade Agreement to be renegotiated. The renamed trade agreement, known as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, modifies restrictions for a number of industries, including the automobile industry, while permitting duty-free trade in a broad range of sectors.