The message that Justin Trudeau intends to deliver to Americans this week could not be clearer: “We do better things when we work together,” insisted the Canadian Prime Minister, visiting Washington on Wednesday.
Trudeau begins a two-day trip to the US capital, where he will participate in the North American Leaders’ Summit on Thursday with US President Joe Biden and President of Mexico Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
Until then, the Prime Minister will continue meetings with leadership teams in Congress as well as economic representatives, political scientists and researchers. And at every opportunity, the Canadian delegation intends to argue that the protectionist aims of President Biden but also members of Congress threaten the Canadian economy as well as that of the United States.
Integrated supply and production chains are essential on both sides of the border, Trudeau said at a conference with the Canadian Institute of the Wilson Center, a Washington foreign policy think tank. “It is in our common interest that this continues,” he said at the outset.
The Prime Minister also wasted no time in confirming, just a stone’s throw from the White House, Canada’s concerns about the promised tax credit for electric vehicles assembled in the United States. “We are a little concerned,” he dropped, lamenting “the real negative impact” for the auto industry.
“But that’s going to be part of the conversations we’ll have today. To make sure people understand that acting together will be good for all of us – good for jobs, good for the future, as we fight climate change, as we create prosperity in North America. North, ”he also answered a student’s question.
The speech will be the same in the afternoon, when the Canadian delegation will meet with the leadership of the Senate and the House of Representatives in the hope of convincing them to exempt Canada from the protectionist measures under consideration in Congress.
“The Prime Minister will stress the importance of bilateral cooperation as the two countries seek to recover from the pandemic, improve their infrastructure and secure supply chains while avoiding protectionist policies,” the office warned. the Prime Minister, ahead of these meetings on Capitol Hill.
Mr. Trudeau is due to meet with Speaker of the House of Representatives Democrat Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy as well as Senate Majority Leader Democrat Chuck Schumer, and that of the minority, Mitch McConnell.
An inconvenient tax credit
Canada opposes the proposed tax credit for electric vehicles being considered in an economic stimulus bill expected to be passed in Congress shortly. The Trudeau government deplores that this measure would harm the Canadian auto industry.
Beyond the negative consequences for Canada, the Canadian delegation in Washington also intends to point out to the Americans that such a protectionist policy would also harm the American industry, which could no longer count on certain parts produced in this integrated market.
Trudeau will meet with Presidents Biden and López Obrador as part of the North American Leaders’ Summit on Thursday, but also separately in bilateral meetings scheduled with each of the presidents earlier today.
Arguing Against China
Canada is also trying to position itself as a “reliable” ally and partner of the United States, as the Biden government continues to speak out against China and try to make itself less dependent on the Chinese economy.
To do this, the Trudeau government boasts of the 13 critical minerals it wants to supply to the United States – such as lithium or cobalt – in order to manufacture batteries for electric vehicles, in particular. “There is worse for the United States than being able to count on their closest friend, their oldest friend, their most trusted friend to ensure that, in a North American context, we are strong and resilient. in an unstable world, ”argued the Prime Minister.
Canada, he insisted, would be a much more “reliable” partner and source of critical minerals than some countries where these same resources are buried.
“We have to work together, as nations that share the same values. No country, not even the United States, can counter some of China’s behavior on its own. And when we work together as Western democracies, we accomplish things, ”Trudeau also concluded, echoing the leitmotif of his speech to the Americans this week.