Other countries seeking out advice from Canada ahead of Trump return: Joly

Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly says Donald Trump’s return to the White House has boosted Canada’s influence in the world as other international partners turn to Canada for advice on how to deal with him.

Joly made the comments in Peru, where she was attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Trump won’t be sworn in again until January, but his win in the presidential election last week looms large over the discussions of the group, which aims to improve trade among Pacific Rim nations.

Speaking to reporters in Lima on Friday morning, Joly said no country understands the United States better than Canada and multiple countries are now asking for advice on how they can adapt to a second Trump administration.

Trump’s first presidency saw him pull back from many multilateral agreements, including the Paris climate agreement and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, of which half of APEC nations are members.

He has also promised to slap at least a 10 per cent across-the-board import tax on all goods coming into the United States, which is causing great concern among America’s trading partners.

The London School of Economics warned last month that these policies would likely hurt the economies of the U.S., China and the European Union.

Joly confirmed she expects Trump to visit Canada next year when the G7 leaders’ summit is held in Kananaskis, Alta.

“If there’s a country in the world that understands the United States, it’s Canada,” Joly said. “That’s why there are so many delegations, so many countries, coming to see us to ask about how we, they, can adapt.

“I think Canada’s influence is actually increasing because of the impacts that the world is now facing with the new administration.”

Joly met Thursday night in Lima with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, whose time in that office will end in January when the new administration is sworn in. Trump announced this week that he will nominate Florida Sen. Marco Rubio as the new secretary of state.

Joly also met with China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, on Thursday, discussing Canada and China’s co-operation on air transport and combating fentanyl. She said she also discussed with him the Canadian public inquiry on foreign interference and sent “clear messages to China that we will never accept any foreign interference.”

“We need to have a predictable relationship,” she said.

Canadian officials have been mum on the prospect of Trudeau meeting with Xi, whether in a formal sit-down or an informal hallway chat, either in Lima at APEC or over the weekend when they both travel to the G20 leaders’ summit in Brazil.

John Kirton, head of the G20 Research Group, said he expects Trudeau and many leaders to have informal talks on the sidelines of both summits to make sense of how to navigate another Trump presidency.

“Trudeau will be in a relatively privileged position, because he’s been with Donald Trump at (several) summits, and we’re the next-door neighbours; we’re a front-line state,” he said.

Vina Nadjibulla, research vice-president for the Asia Pacific Foundation, said Trump’s re-election likely means a reduced role for the U.S. in multilateral institutions and fighting climate change, as well as greater tension with China over trade, tariffs and technology.

The Trudeau Liberals have been signalling their intention to continue to side with the U.S. against China on clean energy and electric vehicles. Canada this fall matched U.S. import tariffs of 100 per cent on Chinese-made electric vehicles, and increased tariffs on steel and aluminum products.

Canada is considering expanding tariffs as well on electric vehicle batteries and battery parts, critical minerals and solar panels, on which the U.S. has already planned to increase tariffs.

“APEC is meeting in the context of rising protectionism, intense geopolitical competition, uncertain economic growth and the Trump election,” Nadjibulla said.

That means Trudeau will be pushing to preserve rules-based trade “that is critical to our prosperity” over the coming days, she said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 15, 2024.