Biden arrives in Canada to discuss trade and migration challenges
The US President, Joe Biden, came in Canada on Thursday to see Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and address parliament, amid claims that an agreement on controlling undocumented migration over the neighbors' lengthy border has been reached.
Trade, Canada's abysmal defense expenditure, and a prospective multinational force to calm troubled Haiti are all scheduled to be on the agenda for Friday's activities.
As Biden went north, there were indications that another thorny problem in the otherwise cordial relationship had been settled through an agreement to crack down on unauthorized migration by asylum seekers transiting through the US into Canada.
According to the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, Canada will be permitted to detain unlawful migrants at the Roxham Road crossing point on the border between New York and Quebec.
Before the train crash, my daughter was studying for her master's degree in the United Kingdom.
The influx of migrants has irritated local Canadian politicians, as it did in Washington with unlawful crossings of the US-Mexico border.
According to reports, Canada has agreed to accept 15,000 asylum applicants from Latin America through legal means in exchange for relieving congestion on the southern US border.
However, as Biden and his wife, First Lady Jill Biden, arrived to Trudeau's residence for dinner on Thursday evening, the president declined to answer a reporter's question on the arrangement.
The prime minister and his wife, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, were then escorted inside.
Earlier, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre refused to confirm the news, saying only that "we will hear more about it tomorrow from the president and the prime minister."
The two sides emphasized their close integration ahead of the visit.
"I think that's going to be the theme of this visit, that we're there to make each other stronger and better," Kirsten Hillman, Canada's ambassador to the United States, told CBC.
However, little minor, if any, progress is likely in resolving disagreements on Biden's Inflation Reduction Act – a major scheme to subsidize and jumpstart US-based development of electric automobiles and other clean energy items.
"We want to see more inclusion in those areas," a senior Canadian government official told reporters.
"We want a globally competitive North America, so that our two economies, which are already so intertwined, with so many businesses, jobs, and supply chains reliant on each other, can compete and succeed together."
- Funding for mutual defense -
Another topic on the agenda is the financing of the neighbors' mutual defense treaties, both as NATO members, and their joint air defense system for North America, known as NORAD.
The US government has been urging Canada to raise defense spending, which will reach 1.33 percent of GDP in 2022. This is set to grow to 1.59 percent in 2026, but it is still considerably below the NATO alliance's minimum two percent of GDP spending threshold.
Jean-Pierre applauded Canada's assistance to the Western alliance in defending Ukraine against Russian aggression, but added, "I'm sure that conversation will come up."
Earlier Thursday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Biden and Trudeau would debate Haiti's leaders' calls for an international force to restore peace to the impoverished Caribbean island, where authorities have been unable to subjugate violent gangs.
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