MONTRÉAL, Québec (CU)_US President Joe Biden is set to hold a virtual meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday (Feb 23), in what will be the President’s first official meeting with a foreign head of government since his inauguration last month.
President Biden will “highlight the strong and deep partnership between the United States and Canada as neighbours, friends and NATO Allies” during the meeting, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said.
The Canadian Prime Minister welcomed the meeting saying: “Canada and the US share one of the strongest and deepest friendships between any two countries in the world.” He noted on Twitter that the meeting will focus on the pandemic, climate change and economic matters.
More often than not, a US president would visit the neighbouring countries of Canada or Mexico on their first official trip after being sworn in, although former President Donald Trump abandoned that tradition in 2017, by visiting Saudi Arabia instead.
Moreover, while the United States and Canada are strong allies, sharing the world’s largest border, however, during the Trump administration, relations between the two countries were disrupted, especially with the former US President forcing the renegotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and imposing tariffs on Canadian aluminium and steel, in addition to the withdrawal of the United States from several international accords.
However, PM Trudeau being the first foreign leader to speak directly to President Biden after his inauguration last month, suggested a return to the status quo. Moreover, since taking office on January 20, the US President has also sought to re-engage with some of the country’s traditional allies, including Canada and the European Union.
During the meeting on Tuesday, PM Trudeau is expected to bring up the issue of the two Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, who are currently being detained in China. While the Canadian PM has said he looks forward to working with President Biden on matters of climate change, however, he has also expressed his disappointment regarding the American leader’s decision to cancel the contentious Keystone XL pipeline between the countries, which is a subject that is likely to come up during the discussion on Tuesday.
