‘You might need a friend’: Amid tension with Trump, Trudeau travelling to Europe to talk trade and AI with allies

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is traveling to Europe to discuss trade and artificial intelligence amid trade tensions with the United States.

As tensions between Canada and the United States rise, Trudeau is trying to strengthen ties with other allies. He will travel to Europe on Saturday and will be there through Wednesday to “strengthen transatlantic cooperation,” his office said.

But in his speech at the Canada-U.S. Economic Summit on Friday, Trudeau made his goal clear: to find alternatives as President Donald Trump’s tariff suspensions expire.

In his speech, Trudeau pointed to a series of global trade agreements that the Canadian government has signed or made progress on over the past decade, and stressed that now is the time to consider whether more can be done.

Focus on trade with Europe

Trudeau will first travel to France, Canada’s fourth-largest export market in the European Union. In 2023, the value of goods trade between the two countries reached $12.9 billion. During the trip, he plans to expand trade relations and discuss diversifying Canada’s supply chain.

Speech at AI Summit in Paris

The Canadian prime minister will participate in the “Action on AI” summit in Paris, hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron. The main themes of the summit will include the global development and deployment of AI, preserving freedoms in the AI ​​revolution and using the technology to serve society.

Trudeau is scheduled to speak at the summit and emphasize Canada’s pioneering role in the field. Canada was the first country to introduce a national strategy for AI in 2017. The Trudeau government allocated $2.4 billion in last year’s budget to develop the technology.

Meeting with EU leaders in Brussels

Trudeau will then travel to Brussels for a Canada-EU leaders’ summit. The summit will focus on supporting Ukraine and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Transatlantic Trade (CETA).

The EU is Canada’s second-largest trading partner in goods and services, after the United States. In 2023, trade between the two sides was worth a combined $157.3 billion.

Canada’s commitment to NATO stressed

The Canadian prime minister will also meet with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. His office said the meeting will be “to reaffirm Canada’s commitment to the alliance.”

Canada remains one of the few NATO countries that has yet to meet its target of spending 2 percent of GDP on defense. It aims to do so by 2032, but some Liberal leadership candidates have promised to accelerate the process.

One of Trudeau's last foreign trips as prime minister

Trudeau has already announced that he will step down and is expected to leave office after the Liberal Party elects a new leader on March 9.

The trip could be one of his last diplomatic missions as prime minister. As global tensions and Trump's unpredictable approach continue to cloud international relations, Trudeau is trying to strengthen Canada's standing with its allies before leaving office.

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