Donald Trump knows the Canada-U.S. relationship 'in a way he didn’t before': Ambassador

Canada's ambassador to the United States — and co-lead of the federal government's Team Canada war room — says U.S. president-elect Donald Trump has a different understanding of the bilateral relationship than he did during his first term in the White House.

Canada’s ambassador to the United States — and co-lead of the federal government’s Team Canada war room — says U.S. president-elect Donald Trump has a different understanding of the bilateral relationship than he did during his first term in the White House.

Trump, throughout this latest election campaign, has threatened to impose across-the-board tariffs on imports, to reopen America's trilateral free-trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, and to launch a mass deportation operation, raising fears of an exodus to Canada.

Despite that, Ambassador Kirsten Hillman told CTV’s Question Period host Vassy Kapelos in an interview airing Sunday that trade negotiations during Trump’s first term, coupled with navigating the physical border during the COVID-19 pandemic, “sensitized” the president-elect to the uniqueness of Canada-U.S. relations.

“I think the difference is that he himself knows the importance of the Canada-U.S. relationship in a way that he didn't before,” she said. “We went through the renegotiation of the NAFTA, and it wasn't always easy, but we did come out with an agreement that is really, really effective, an agreement that has led to historic levels of Canada-U.S. trade.”

“And he knows that,” Hillman added. “So he can take credit for that.”

Trade experts and industry representatives have raised concerns about the potential consequences on both the American and Canadian economies of Trump’s promised tariffs of 10 per cent or more on imported goods. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce estimates the resulting economic impact in this country would be $30 billion annually.

When asked about the policy — and the lack of assurances from Trump or his team that Canada would be exempt from such a measure — Hillman insisted the relationship with Trump’s forthcoming administration is “starting from a different place” than it did when he first took office eight years ago.