President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday reaffirmed the strong ties between the US and Canada and announced an agreement to turn away asylum seekers who cross their borders without authorization.
In a joint press conference, the two world leaders also discussed their efforts on a range of issues, including the opioid crisis, climate change, and instability in Haiti.
“Canada and America will always be there for each other,” said Biden, standing with Trudeau in Ottawa during his first visit to Canada as president. “We have unleashed the economic potential of our people and our partnership – a partnership that generates more than $2.5 billion in business every day.”
“We are turning our hemisphere into a clean energy powerhouse, including by expanding the Inflation Reduction Act tax credit for electric vehicles assembled in Canada,” he said, adding that both countries are rich in vital minerals and semiconductors. Also strengthening the supply chain.
“Today, we are making $50 million available through the Defense Production Act to encourage more American and Canadian companies to invest in the packaging of these semiconductors and printed circuit boards,” Biden said.
Trudeau said the two countries will launch a joint Energy Transition Task Force that will boost efforts on clean energy and clean technology, and Canada will make a new $420 million investment to continue protecting the Great Lakes.
Earlier in the day, in his speech to Canada’s Parliament, Biden had said, “No two countries on earth are bound by such close ties, friendship, family, commerce and culture.” Our labor unions cross borders, and so do our sports leagues, baseball, basketball, and hockey.
He listed several areas of cooperation between the US and Canada, including strengthening Ukraine’s defenses against military attacks from Russia.
Following his speech, Biden and Trudeau announced a new deal on migrants and asylum seekers. Trudeau has said he is seeking help from the Biden administration to stem the flow of migrants claiming asylum from the US to his country. Police and border officials will implement the agreement at midnight, he said during a joint press conference.
The new policy will apply to people caught within 14 days of crossing the US-Canada border without citizenship in any country. Canada has also committed to taking in an additional 15,000 migrants from the Western Hemisphere on humanitarian grounds over the next year.
Illegal crossings from Canada into the US have climbed to historically high levels, although they are still a fraction of crossings from Mexico into the US.
Biden and Trudeau also detailed how they would approach the issues of China and NORAD.
“We sometimes disagree to a degree on things,” Biden said in brief remarks before one of his meetings with Trudeau. “But there is no fundamental difference in democratic values.”
Trudeau told the U.S. Said of his country’s relations with the United States, that Canada “has no greater friend and ally than the United States.”
In the second bilateral meeting, Biden sat at a long table with key members of his administration — including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm — along with their Canadian counterparts.
In the evening, Biden and the First Lady will attend a gala dinner hosted by Trudeau and his wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau.