Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is heading to Washington, D.C. next week to meet U.S. President Donald Trump in advance of the G20 summit in Japan, to discuss relations with China and the ratification of the new NAFTA.
On June 20, the pair will discuss a range of outstanding issues between the two countries, including “outstanding trade issues,” the detention of Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig in China, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.
As well, Trudeau plans to discuss the detention of Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig in China.
The two Canadian men were detained last December after a senior executive with Chinese telecom giant Huawei was arrested in Vancouver on Dec. 1 at the request of U.S. authorities.
“The two leaders will discuss key global challenges, including China’s wrongful detention of two Canadian citizens,” according to Trudeau’s office.
U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence has said that Trump will raise the plights of Kovrig and Spavor as part of his broader trade discussion with Chinese President Xi Jinping at this month's G20 leaders' summit happening June 28-29 in Osaka.
“I look forward to meeting with President Trump to discuss the ratification of the new NAFTA, and how we can continue to strengthen our vital trade and economic partnership,” Trudeau said in the statement announcing the visit.
Trudeau’s visit falls on the second last scheduled day of the House of Commons sitting. MPs are set to adjourn for the summer on June 21 and pending a push to ratify NAFTA that would force a recall of Parliament.The two Canadian men were detained last December after a senior executive with Chinese telecom giant Huawei was arrested in Vancouver on Dec. 1 at the request of a U.S. extradition warrant.
China has implored Canada to release Meng and have warned of “consequences,” for siding with the U.S. Canada has condemned the detention of the two men and has maintained that it has followed the rule of law, free from political interference. Though, the diplomatic tensions have expanded into the agriculture sector, with China blocking Canadian exports of pork and Canola. This prompted Export Development Canada to announce on Thursday that it’ll be putting up $150 million in insurance support for Canadian canola farmers.
According to the Prime Minister’s Office, the tensions with China are one of the “key global challenges” the two leaders will discuss.
U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence has said that Trump will raise the plights of Kovrig and Spavor as part of his broader trade discussion with Chinese President Xi Jinping at this month's G20 leaders' summit happening June 28-29 in Osaka.
Pence visited Ottawa at the end of May where he met with Trudeau and Canada's advisory council on NAFTA, and spoke positively about the prospect of the new deal being ratified in both Canada and the U.S. come this summer. Trump has yet to make an official visit to Ottawa.
“I look forward to meeting with President Trump to discuss the ratification of the new NAFTA, and how we can continue to strengthen our vital trade and economic partnership,” Trudeau said in the statement announcing the visit.
Canada’s 'goldilocks' approach to ratification
Trudeau’s visit falls on the second last scheduled day of the House of Commons sitting. MPs are set to adjourn for the summer on June 21 and pending a push to ratify NAFTA that would force a recall of Parliament.
This will be Trudeau’s third official visit in D.C. with Trump. The first two were in February and October of 2017. At their first meeting Trump said he only planned to "tweak" NAFTA, and by the second visit, renegotiations were underway. At that time, Trump had yet to level the steel and aluminum tariffs that were just lifted in May, months after the renegotiated trilateral trade deal — known as USMCA or CUSMA, was signed.
The two have met on various occasions since, including at last June’s G7 in Quebec. Following that meeting, Trump called Trudeau “meek and mild” and “very dishonest and weak.”
Now, the focus is on ratification of the renegotiated NAFTA. On Thursday the government passed a motion limiting the amount of debate allowed on the implementation bill C-100, to five more hours at its current stage: second reading.
Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland concluded a two-day trip to D.C. on Thursday, after meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, and other American officials about the NAFTA ratification process. She has also recently been in touch with Mexican officials this week about moving the deal ahead.
“The conversations we had, really detailed ones… are really helpful in that effort and that is another reason why it’s going to be so valuable for the prime minister to be here next week to continue those conversations,” Freeland told reporters, adding that she feels “very comfortable” with Canada’s approach.
“Our plan is to move forward in tandem with the U.S. We think of it as a kind-of goldilocks approach. Not too hot, not too cold. We’re not going to go too fast, we’re not going to go too slow. It does mean that we are going to spending a lot of time talking with our American counterparts to get that pacing right,” said Freeland.
This further adds to the sense in Ottawa that instead of extending the House of Commons sitting into the last week of June, the government may recall Parliament later in the summer when there is more momentum in the American ratification process.
According to The Canadian Press, Mexico’s Senate is expected to approve its domestic ratification next week, though Democrats in Congress are still not sending affirming signals that they are ready to cooperate and give the Republicans a win by ratifying the deal.
