Canada announces new border rules after Trump threatens tariffs
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Canada has pledged to implement a series of new security measures along its border with the United States, including increased surveillance and a joint "strike force" to target transnational organized crime.
The pledge comes after President-elect Donald Trump threatened to impose a 25% tariff on Canadian goods when he takes office in January if the country does not secure its shared border from the flow of illegal immigrants and illegal drugs.
Economists say such tariffs could deal a major blow to the Canadian economy.
Announcing details of the plan, Canada's Minister of Finance and Intergovernmental Affairs said the federal government would commit C$1.3 billion ($900 million; £700 million) to the plan.
The measures "will secure our border against the flow of illegal drugs and irregular migration while ensuring the free movement of people and goods that are at the heart of North America's prosperity," Secretary Dominic LeBlanc said Tuesday. The five pillars of the plan cover disrupting the fentanyl trade, new law enforcement tools, better coordination with U.S. law enforcement, increased information sharing, and curbing border trafficking.
They include a proposal for an aerial surveillance task force, including helicopters, drones, and mobile observation towers between ports of entry.
The government is also providing funding for the Canada Border Services Agency to train new teams of dogs to search for illegal drugs and new detection tools for high-risk ports of entry.
And LeBlanc gave more details about the so-called "joint strike force" to Canadian and American authorities, saying it would include "increased operational support, dedicated synthetic drug units, enhanced combined forces, special law enforcement, integrated binational law enforcement teams, and new operational capabilities and infrastructure."
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The new plan appears to fit with concerns that Trump has publicly revealed in recent weeks: the flow of fentanyl and undocumented immigrants into the United States. The number of crossings at the Canada-US border is significantly lower than at the southern border, according to US Border Patrol data on immigration encounters, as well as the amount of fentanyl seized.
Mexico also faces the threat of a 25% tariff.
LeBlanc said he and other officials had a "preliminary" conversation with Trump's new "border czar," Tom Homan, about the new plan.
"I'm encouraged by this conversation," he said.
LeBlanc was present at a meeting last month between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Trump at Mar-a-Lago, a trip said to be aimed at avoiding taxes. The announcement comes on LeBlanc's first day as Canada's finance minister.
The longtime Trudeau ally was sworn in in haste on Monday after the surprise resignation of Chrystia Freeland, who served as finance minister and deputy prime minister.
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Freeland left office by writing an open letter to Trudeau in which she outlined her disagreements with him on spending and "the best path for Canada."
Her abrupt exit from cabinet has strained Trudeau's weakened minority government.
In a speech to party loyalists at a Liberal holiday event on Tuesday, a defiant Trudeau said there are "still tough days and big challenges" in politics. "But this team doesn't hold the record for the longest streak in Canadian history because we avoid those moments, we work hard, whether it's easy or difficult."
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