Canadian Prime Minister visits Trump in Florida

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has flown to Florida to meet with President-elect Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club after Trump threatened to impose sweeping tariffs on Canadian products.

A person familiar with the matter said, according to the AP, that Trudeau will have dinner with Trump. The official was not authorized to comment publicly on the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Canadian Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc accompanied Trudeau on the trip. Trudeau is the first G-7 leader to visit Trump since the US election.

The visit comes days after Trump threatened to impose 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico over the failure of both nations to stem the flow of illegal immigrants and illegal drugs from those countries to the United States

Fox News Digital has reached out to Trump’s representatives.

MEXICAN PRESIDENT MAY EXCEED VISION CONTROL ON US AS TRUMP WIN SENDS WARNING TO RULING SOCIALISTS

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau walks through the lobby of the Delta Hotel by Marriott in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Friday. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Trudeau said earlier Friday that he would resolve the tariff issue by talking to Trump.

“We will work together to address some of the concerns,” he told reporters on Canada’s Prince Edward Island. “But at the end of the day, it’s through lots of real constructive conversations with President Trump that I want to have that will keep us on the right track for all Canadians.”

Trudeau said Trump was elected because he promised to cut the cost of groceries, but now he’s talking about adding 25% to the price of all kinds of produce, including Prince Edward Island potatoes.

“It’s important to understand that when Donald Trump makes statements like this, he plans to carry them out. There’s no doubt about that,” Trudeau said.

Earlier this week, Trump said he would impose tariffs on America’s neighbors on the first day of his presidency.

“Right now, a caravan coming from Mexico, composed of thousands of people, appears to be unstoppable in its quest to get through our currently open border,” he wrote. “On January 20th, as one of my first of many executive orders, I will sign all necessary documents to accuse Mexico and Canada of a 25% rate on ALL products coming into the US and its ridiculous open borders.”

President Trump, right, shakes hands with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during a meeting at Winfield House in London on December 3, 2019. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images)

On Wednesday, Trump spoke with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo. He said Sheinbaum agreed to “stop migration through Mexico and into the United States,” after a productive discussion over the phone.

Sheinbaum had promised to raise tariffs on American goods if Trump followed through on his threat.

Trump has previously called on Canada and Mexico to do more to prevent illegal migration to the United States and to combat the flow of illegal drugs, particularly fentanyl.

Shortly after Trump’s tariff pledge, Canadian officials said the country is making border security the “highest priority.”

“Our relationship today is balanced and mutually beneficial, especially for American workers,” Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said in a joint statement. “Today, Canada buys more from the United States than China, Japan, France and the United Kingdom combined. Canada is critical to America’s domestic energy supply, and last year 60 percent of America’s crude oil imports originated in Canada.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks at an event in Mount Stewart, Prince Edward Island, on Friday. (Ron Ward/The Canadian Press via AP)

About 60% of US crude oil imports are from Canada, and 85% of US electricity imports are from Canada.

Canada is also the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum and uranium to the United States and has 34 critical minerals and metals that the Pentagon considers essential to national security.

Should Trump follow through on his tariff threat, Canada could impose retaliatory tariffs on certain U.S. goods, a senior Canadian official told The Associated Press this week.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

When Trump imposed higher tariffs in his first term, other countries responded with tariffs of their own. In 2018, Canada announced billions in tariffs against the United States in response to taxes on Canadian steel and aluminum.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.