Canada launches fentanyl crackdown to convince Trump tariffs aren't necessary
Trump's choice for commerce secretary said Feb. 1 threat is about border concerns
Days before tariffs that have the potential to cripple Canada's economy are expected to come into effect, Canadian politicians are pushing the message that the country is cracking down on one of U.S. President Donald Trump's main concerns.
Since his re-election in November, Trump has repeatedly said he would hit Canada and others with tariffs of up to 25 per cent. On his first day back in the Oval Office, Trump suggested tariffs on Canadian goods could be coming on Saturday.
While he's shifted back and forth on his irritants, one concern Trump has cited is drugs — such as fentanyl — entering the U.S. from Canada and Mexico.
Ottawa has shown a willingness to engage with Trump on the border issue, announcing a $1.3-billion border package that will result in more personnel and technology to better police the 49th parallel.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, who is currently in Washington, D.C., told reporters she believes Canada's border plan is resonating after she presented it to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Kevin Cramer, North Dakota senator and co-chair of the American-Canadian Economy and Security Caucus.
"At the RCMP level, at the CBSA level, we're making the contacts to clearly show what we're doing," she said during a virtual news conference on Wednesday. "The secretary of state understands the relationship between trade and geopolitics. It is important that we work together and that we not be divided in a world where there's so much geopolitical competition, particularly when it comes to China."
The meetings mark Joly's fifth visit to the U.S. since last November's presidential election.
She did not confirm whether Trump would follow through on the tariff threat, saying only that ultimately the president will be the one to decide.
"This is the reality of dealing with the Trump administration, and we need to make sure that we're ready to deal with unpredictability," she said.
In a news statement published on Wednesday evening, Rubio "commended Canada for confronting the [Chinese Communist Party] CCP's coercive and unfair economic practices."
"The secretary and Minister Joly also reaffirmed co-operation to enhance safety and prosperity for both countries," the statement reads.
Public Safety Minister David McGuinty told reporters Wednesday that he will be heading to Washington on Thursday to make Canada's case to U.S. officials.
"We had a very strong border. We have an even stronger border today … and I'm quite convinced that the evidence that's being presented to the [Trump] administration will break through," he said.
Figures from U.S. Customs and Border Protection show the agency seized just 19.5 kilograms of fentanyl at the northern border last year compared to a whopping 9,570 kilograms at the southwestern one.
McGuinty said the federal government will launch this week a new regulatory process to increase the control and oversight of precursor chemicals in Canada, which are used to produce synthetic opioids like fentanyl. He also said the government is currently negotiating with American authorities to stand up a joint North American fentanyl strike force targeting organized crime, including cartels.
Ottawa announced earlier this month that it is sending a slew of drones and two leased Black Hawk helicopters to the shared border to begin beefed-up patrols.
McGuinty also pointed to the training and deployment of "new border detector dog teams, specialized 100 per cent in fentanyl detection."
Kirsten Hillman, Canada's ambassador to the U.S., appeared on CNN on Wednesday to make the case to Americans that Canada has stepped up border enforcement to deter migrants and drugs since Trump first lobbed his tariff threat last fall.
She said Canada won't just talk about its plan to crack down at the border — the government knows it has to show Trump the plan is already working if it's going to be successful in holding off his promised trade action.
"We are showing how these plans are being executed," she said of her talks with Trump administration officials.
"We are not a major source of these challenges but we can always do better. Tomorrow and the next day, we're going to show the data, show what changes have already come about."
To that end, CBSA and the RCMP announced Wednesday its Project Disrupt and Deter, a new border intelligence initiative launched last month to curb irregular migration, recently intercepted a human smuggling attempt in Fort Erie, Ont., along the Canada-U.S. border.
A person jumped off a moving freight train as it passed into the Niagara region of southern Ontario and tried to flee. The unnamed person was detained by police and eventually sent back to the U.S., CBSA said in a media statement.
McGuinty called the arrest an early sign that Canada's new border plan is already bearing fruit and "keeping Canadians and Americans safe."
As part of the Canadian government's lobbying efforts, officials have been sending video footage of the border efforts to their U.S. counterparts in recent weeks — including a helicopter landing in snow.
Howard Lutnick, who Trump tapped to be his commerce secretary, said Wednesday that the Feb. 1 tariff date was meant to spur Canada and Mexico to take action at the borders. But he said other tariffs could still be tagged out later this spring.
"This is a separate tariff to create action from Mexico and action from Canada [on the border] and as far as I know they are acting swiftly and if they execute it, there will be no tariff," he said, before adding that other tariffs focused on trade issues are still being looked at.
One of Trump's first presidential orders called on a number of U.S. departments to — among other things — investigate the causes of the U.S.'s "large and persistent annual trade deficits in goods, as well as the economic and national security implications and risks resulting from such deficits."
"I think we should take Mr. Lutnick's comments seriously. I think we should take them at face value and I think we should continue reminding our American neighbours how far we've come," McGuinty said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke with Canada's premiers on Wednesday. A readout from the call noted that Canada's border plan was a topic of discussion.
Following the call, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said Lutnick's comments offered a way for Canada to avoid tariffs over the next few days.
"Now we see a pathway," Smith said. "[Lutnick confirmed] we can avoid them if we demonstrate serious effort that we don't have bad guys coming across the border."
Smith laid out her own province's measures around the border, which include adding more police resources. She said her government also invited a Fox News team to the border to show how the province's efforts are panning out.
During his own news conference Wednesday, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew also highlighted new measures his province has taken at the border.
"Not only are we a constructive partner in supporting the border efforts, but I think we as a collective group of premiers are also helping to provide that reassurance to Canadians of all walks of life that we're out there making the case for our country," Kinew said.
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With files from Katie Simpson