Justin Trudeau’s “Team Canada” ventured south this past week to remind Americans that their trade relationship with the Great White North is vital. The new effort was announced by Trudeau in January, signaling a determination to prepare for the outcome of this year’s presidential election. His government, you’ll recall, was criticized in 2016 for being unprepared for Donald Trump’s win. But the Team Canada approach to NAFTA renegotiation was widely seen as a success since it led to the USMCA in 2020, which will be reviewed by all the parties in 2026.
The indefatigable Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne was accompanied on his weeklong trip by Mary Ng, minister of international trade, and Kirsten Hillman, Canada’s ambassador to the US. They traveled to Michigan, Ohio, Georgia, and Washington, DC, meeting with politicians and talking about the importance of cross-border supply chains.
Americans are listening, Champagne said, “because it’s about jobs, millions of jobs.”
Still, the prospect of a renewed trade war with the United States remains worrying for Canada, and Trudeau’s team is no doubt hoping that Biden’s poll numbers continue inching north.Xi Jinping will welcome Donald Trump with lots of pomp and circumstance. The summit, though, will be short on substance.
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