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U.S. Attorney-General Pam Bondi met with two federal cabinet ministers, as well as Canada’s fentanyl czar, on Wednesday. During the meeting, U.S. officials acknowledge the work Canada has done on border security.Ted Shaffrey/The Associated Press
Justice Minister Sean Fraser, Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree and fentanyl czar Kevin Brosseau met with U.S. Attorney-General Pam Bondi on Wednesday as Ottawa continues to re-engage with the Trump administration after failing to reach a trade deal earlier this month.
The sit-down in Washington was the second in as many days between top officials from the two governments.
The meeting focused on Canada’s efforts to toughen the border and crack down on fentanyl, Jeremy Bellefeuille, a spokesperson for Mr. Fraser, told The Globe and Mail.
He said “there was an acknowledgement” from the Americans of the work Canada is doing on this front and everyone exchanged personal phone numbers at the end in order to keep in touch.
Mr. Bellefeuille characterized the meeting as “a first touch” – it is the first time the three officials have met with Ms. Bondi – and said it was organized after she requested it about a month ago.
The U.S. Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comment.
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While the meeting was not explicitly about trade, the two issues are closely linked: President Donald Trump imposed one set of his tariffs on Canada ostensibly to punish the country for not doing enough to secure the border and keep fentanyl out of the U.S.
According to U.S. government statistics, American authorities seized 43 pounds of fentanyl at the Canadian border last year, accounting for 0.2 per cent of the total seized nationwide.
Ottawa has unveiled a suite of measures meant to toughen the border. These include more helicopters, drones, surveillance towers and equipment for detecting potential fentanyl shipments.
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The government is also promising to do more to break up fentanyl and human smuggling organizations, including by stepping up investigations of money laundering and better tracking of chemicals that could be used to make fentanyl.
It was not immediately clear how the officials’ efforts to sell Canada’s actions went over with Ms. Bondi.
The meeting came a day after Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc – accompanied by Ambassador Kirsten Hillman and Marc-André Blanchard, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s chief of staff – met with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
One Canadian government official said Mr. LeBlanc and Mr. Lutnick decided after the meeting to let officials work on technical details for the time being before the two sides meet again. The official said that Canada’s focus is on getting Mr. Trump to lessen tariffs on several key industries he has targeted, including autos, steel and aluminum.
Industry sources previously told The Globe that talks have included the possibility of a tariff rate quota on some or all of these products. Under such a system, Canada could only ship a certain amount of a product to the U.S. every year before a punitively high tariff kicked in. Products exported under the quota would also be subject to a tariff, just a smaller one.
The Globe is not identifying the sources so it could learn details of the closed-door trade discussion.
Mr. Carney has been trying to negotiate a new trade and security deal with the U.S. in a bid to get Mr. Trump to lift or lessen his tariffs, but so far without success.
