Anand meets with Rubio in Washington amid bilateral tensions

Minister of Foreign Affairs Anita Anand speaks to reporters in The Hague, Netherlands on Tuesday, June 24, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

WASHINGTON — Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand had her first official meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington today amid ongoing tensions in the bilateral relationship.

Neither Anand nor Rubio took questions from reporters but shook hands in front of Canadian and American flags in a room of the U.S. State Department.

Anand and Rubio have previously spoken by phone, including in June ahead of the G7 Leaders’ Summit in Kananaskis.

Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc cycled through Washington in July looking for a tariff off-ramp but instead U.S. President Donald Trump boosted duties on Canada to 35 per cent.

Those tariffs do not apply to goods compliant with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on trade.

Canada is also being hammered by tariffs on steel, aluminum, copper and automobiles.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 21, 2025.

Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press