WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau repeatedly stressed their commitment to working together after their first face-to-face meeting Monday.
After their White House meeting, the North American neighbors emerged to hail their close ties, with Trump promising to "build upon our very historic friendship" and Trudeau noting the "special" bond between the countries.
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Despite sharp differences on immigration, refugees, trade and climate change, Trump and Trudeau struck a cordial tone, alternating between attempting to bridge those gaps and steering clear of them.
Speaking to reporters, Trump defended his refugee and immigration policies, saying that "we cannot let the wrong people in." Trudeau, on the other hand, said Canada continues to "pursue our policies of openness."
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When asked whether he now sees the northern U.S. border with Canada as insecure, Trump skirted the question, speaking instead of his administration's efforts to deport criminals from the United States.
In the same vein, Trudeau declined to say whether he agreed with the president's executive order on immigration.
"The last thing Canadians expect is for me to come down and lecture another country on how they choose to govern themselves," he said.
"We continue our policy of openness to immigration and refugees without compromising security," the prime minister said. "There have been times where we have differed in our approaches, and that's always been done firmly and respectfully."
During their post-meeting news conference, the reporters Trump called on did not ask about two pressing issues of the day -- the future of national security adviser Michael Flynn and North Korea's reported ballistic missile launch.
'Tweaking' trade
In his Washington visit, Trudeau was seeking to ensure Canada does not suffer as Trump renegotiates the North American Free Trade Agreement. Trump praised the "outstanding" trade relationship between the United States and Canada and said he would only be "tweaking" it going forward.
"We'll be doing certain things that are going to benefit both of our countries. It's a much less severe situation than what's taking place on the southern border," said Trump, who has been critical of America's trade relationship with Mexico.
He said the two leaders had spoken privately about "doing some cross-border things that will make it a lot easier for trade and a lot better and a lot faster." They issued a joint statement pledging to continue border-security programs that began under former President Barack Obama, and reaffirming their commitment to NATO, an alliance that Trump had previously questioned.
Trade relations with the U.S. are crucial to Canada, as more than 75 percent of Canada's exports and 98 percent of its oil exports go to the U.S., while 18 percent of American exports go to Canada.
Canadians count on trade with the United States for about 25 percent of their country's gross domestic product, and most of the country's manufacturing is geared toward meeting U.S. demand.
"It is a real concern for many Canadians because we know that our economy is very dependent on our bonds with the United States," said Trudeau, who has expressed a cautious openness to renegotiating the trade pact. "We continue to understand that we have to allow this free flow of goods and services."
Monday's meeting was billed as one of the most important for a Canadian leader with a U.S. president in decades because of Canada's heavy reliance on its southern neighbor.
"The NAFTA comments, and favorable comparison of the trade relationship with Canada relative to Mexico, should give at least some comfort to Canadian economy watchers," Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce chief economist Avery Shenfeld wrote in a research note after the news conference.
Trump already has been good for Canada, as he has said he'll expedite approval of the Keystone XL pipeline. The pipeline from Alberta through America's midsection would carry more than one-fifth of the oil Canada exports to the United States. Obama turned down the pipeline, a major blow Canada's oil industry.
Canada has the third-largest known oil reserves in the world and needs infrastructure to export its growing oil sands production. The country is America's largest supplier of foreign oil.
Still, it's unclear what may happen to Canada if Trump pushes ahead with a renegotiation of NAFTA. Any restrictions on what has been known as the world's longest undefended border would potentially drive up costs and crimp profits for some of Canada's biggest companies, including Suncor Energy Inc. and auto-parts supplier Magna International Inc.
There had been concerns after Trump's election that he might go after the Canadian auto industry, a major employer in Ontario and one that exports most of its production to the United States.
Flavio Volpe, president of the Auto Parts Manufacturers' Association, a trade group, said it was important for his members to hear Trump's message that he is not planning to dramatically remake the U.S. trade relationship to Canada.
Women in the workforce
Trump greeted Trudeau with a handshake as the Canadian arrived at the White House on a blustery morning. The two posed silently before reporters until Trump suggested they shake hands for the cameras. Trudeau arrived with a gift -- a photo of Trump with Trudeau's father, the late Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.
In addition to private meetings, the leaders held a roundtable discussion with female executives from the U.S. and Canada and announced a task force focused on women in the workforce.
They promised action on improving access to capital for female business owners and adopting policies to help women stay in the workforce. "We must ensure our economy is a place where women can work and thrive," Trump said at the start of the meeting.
Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump attended the meeting and helped recruit participants and set the agenda.
She praised the executives at the meeting as "tremendous role models for me and other business leaders" as the country wrestles with "how we level the playing field for this generation and for the next."
Said Donald Trump: "In order to create economic growth and lots of very good, well-paying jobs, we must ensure that our economy is a place where women can work and thrive, and I think that's happening in the United States much more so. And Ivanka is very much involved in this. And I appreciate you being involved in it."
Trudeau's Canadian administration suggested the task force as a way to work on a shared interest. Dina Powell, assistant to the president and senior counselor for economic initiatives, worked to set up the event, along with Trudeau's Chief of Staff Katie Telford and Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland.
Trudeau said the task force was "about understanding that women in leadership positions is a very powerful leverage for success, for business, for communities and for our entire economy."
Female executives at the table, from major companies in both countries, included General Electric Canada CEO Elyse Allan, TransAlta Corp. CEO Dawn Farrell, Linamar Corp. CEO Linda Hasenfratz, T&T Supermarket Inc. CEO Tina Lee and Schnitzer Steel Industries CEO Tamara Lundgren.
Also there were Julie Sweet, CEO-North America for Accenture; NRStor CEO Annette Verschuren; Monique Leroux, chair of the board of directors for Investissement Quebec; and Carol Stephenson, of the board of directors for General Motors Co.
Canada's policies to help women stay and advance in the workplace differ from those of the U.S., where there is still no guaranteed paid leave for new parents. Trump, with the advocacy of Ivanka Trump, has proposed guaranteeing six weeks of paid leave to mothers who don't already have a paid-leave benefit through their employers. The proposal, which hasn't yet been fully unveiled to Congress, leaves out mothers who adopt children, as well as fathers.
In Canada, mothers who have completed at least six months of work with a company are eligible for a 17-week maternity leave after pregnancy. After the maternity leave period, both parents can share the remaining 37 weeks of parental leave, with job security.
Trudeau met later Monday with lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
Information for this article was contributed by Catherine Lucey and Rob Gillies of The Associated Press; by Richard Perez-Pena and Ian Austen of The New York Times; and by Jennifer Jacobs, Shannon Pettypiece and Jennifer Epstein of Bloomberg News.
A Section on 02/14/2017