WASHINGTON — Then-prime minister Justin Trudeau went into his first phone call with a newly re-elected Donald Trump aware that the U-S president likely was looking to reopen the Canada-U-S-Mexico Agreement.
A briefing note prepared ahead of Trudeau's conversation with Trump on Nov. 6 last year says the president would be unlikely to wait for a formal 2026 review of the continental trade pact, also called CUSMA.
The partially redacted briefing note, obtained by The Canadian Press through the Access to Information Act, says Canadian officials were preparing for the U-S to revisit some CUSMA outcomes — or even the entire agreement.
The note says economic security is a front-burner issue for the Trump administration.
A readout report from the Prime Minister's Office following the November phone call said Trudeau and Trump discussed the enduring and successful partnership between Canada and the United States.
Since Trump's election win, he has imposed tariffs and threatened to annex Canada through economic force.