
Seated at a large oval table with Biden on one side and Trudeau and López Obrador safely physically distanced on the other, they each spoke of prioritizing the physical and economic health of their shared continent and respective residents. He made the remarks following what he called an “extremely effective” trilateral summit at the White House with Biden and his Mexican counterpart, Andrés Manuel López Obrador - the first so-called Three Amigos summit since 2016. relationship.īut it wasn’t the only sore spot: Trudeau said he directly raised concerns about the administration’s strident Buy American protectionist policies, as well as the cross-border Line 5 oil pipeline, which Michigan is trying to shut down. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland on Wednesday warned it could become “the dominant issue” of the Canada-U.S. The proposal is a major concern for automakers in both Canada and Mexico. Joe Mancin - a moderate Democrat - has already expressed misgivings about the tax-credit measure.

The bill will face a rougher ride in the evenly divided Senate, where passage is far from guaranteed, and West Virginia Sen. It will help incentivize the purchasing of electric vehicles and the driving of electric vehicles - something that’s good for our climate.”Īs if to punctuate the trip, the House of Representatives was debating the Build Back Better legislation throughout the evening, precisely as Trudeau was taking questions at the Canadian Embassy, with hopes high that it might pass before daybreak. “The electric vehicles component of the package is something the president is personally very excited about because he believes it’s an industry of the future, an industry that can help create good-paying union jobs. “We don’t view it that way, I think it’s safe to say,” Psaki said.
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“We’re going to talk about that, to some extent,” Biden said, noting that the measure - part of a $1.75-trillion climate change and social spending measure central to his Build Back Better agenda - was a long way from becoming the law of the land.Īs the meeting continued far from the glare of TV cameras, White House press secretary Jen Psaki was herself taking questions about Canada’s claim that the proposal violates NAFTA’s continental trade successor, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. That is exactly what we’ve done.”ĭuring their customary fireside photo op in the Oval Office, Biden offered little evidence he was in a conciliatory mood, offering the usual bilateral pleasantries but promptly shutting down questions about the burgeoning dispute. “As we solve some, new ones will arise, and what is most important is that we have strong, direct lines of communication and that we engage with them in constructive ways.

“In a relationship as big and as deep and as all-encompassing for so many of us, as is the relationship between Canada and the United States, there are always going to be challenges coming up,” Trudeau said. They depart Friday with little to show for their efforts, leaving behind an administration that sounds unwilling to plot a different course and determined to focus its efforts on selling American-made cars and trucks built with U.S. capital hoping to convince Biden that his proposed tax incentive worth up to $12,500 to a prospective new-car buyer would kneecap Canada’s auto industry.

Trudeau and several senior cabinet ministers arrived in the U.S.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tried to claim a moral victory Thursday after his day at the White House did little to defuse an escalating continental dispute over President Joe Biden’s plans to encourage Americans to buy more electric vehicles.
