National

Joly off to Washington to talk tariffs with Rubio as Trump floats 5% target for NATO

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 23 Jan, 2025 03:01 PM

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly will press Canada's case against damaging tariffs with Donald Trump's new secretary of state next week in Washington.

Trump is threatening to impose 25 per cent across-the-board tariffs on imports from Canada starting on Feb. 1 though Joly says things are still in transition while Trump hasn't yet confirmed a commerce secretary.

Joly spoke with Secretary of State Marco Rubio for half an hour by phone Wednesday and will meet him in person next week.

Congratulations on your confirmation as the United States’ Secretary of State @marcorubio.

I look forward to working together on our diplomatic and trade relationship as well as advance our two countries’ shared priorities, including through Canada’s chairship of the G7.
— Mélanie Joly (@melaniejoly) January 21, 2025

She says she stressed to Rubio that tariffs will hurt America's economy and its relationships with other countries and wants to convince the Trump administration that Canada can help Washington stand against China.

Joly says Rubio seemed open to new ideas during the discussion.

Joly says she will also meet with "other key Republican senators" while in Washington and Canada will participate in Trump's planned review of trading practices.

Also on Thursday Trump repeated previous calls for NATO military allies like Canada to spend 5 per cent of their GDP on defence — a target that no NATO country currently meets.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded by citing Ottawa's planned increases to military spending and said Canada is a partner to the U.S. in an unstable world.

Prev Next

MORE National ARTICLES

Tractor crash during protest

Mounties say a Chilliwack man has been charged with three criminal offences after a crash between a tractor and BC Highway Patrol vehicle during a 2023 protest. They say the 54-year-old was arrested on Dec. 18 and will appear in Surrey Provincial Court on Jan. 16, charged with fleeing police, dangerous operation of a vehicle and assaulting a police officer with a weapon.

Tractor crash during protest

Cars carrying grains derailed into river

A derailment has sent rail cars carrying grain plunging into the Fraser River, and CN Rail says it's working to restore the tracks near Boston Bar, B.C. It says the incident involving about a dozen cars from a CPKC train on its mainline east of the Fraser Canyon community happened on Sunday due to a rockslide.

Cars carrying grains derailed into river

Over 280M trees planted: BC Gov

British Columbia's forests ministry says more than 280 million trees were planted in the province this year. It says 13 different native tree species were chosen in its effort to preserve ecosystems and prioritize characteristics including resilience to climate change.

Over 280M trees planted: BC Gov

Green Party's Elizabeth May reflects on unprecedented week in Canadian politics

In a year-end interview with The Canadian Press, May — now in her 13th year as the B.C. MP for Saanich—Gulf Islands — spoke about the bombshell events on Parliament Hill, the parliamentary stalemate that has paralyzed the House of Commons for months and her thoughts on the fate of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal leadership.

Green Party's Elizabeth May reflects on unprecedented week in Canadian politics

Ontario asks Canada's highest court to hear youth-led climate case

Ontario is asking the Supreme Court of Canada to urgently decide whether it will hear a historic youth-led challenge of the province's climate plan. It's the first case to be tried in Canada that considers whether a government's climate plan can violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Ontario asks Canada's highest court to hear youth-led climate case

Bank of Canada watching economy closely after half-point rate cut

Members considered only cutting by a quarter-point, but ultimately brought the rate down to 3.25 per cent in a bid to bring it closer to its so called neutral rate, where it is neither slowing nor speeding up economic growth.