OTTAWA, Ontario—The leaders of North America confront a rising tide of economic protectionism and nationalism as they hold a summit Wednesday in the Canadian capital.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for the first time is hosting U.S. President Barack Obama and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto in Ottawa for the North American leaders’ summit. Obama will also address the Canadian Parliament.
The meeting comes one day after presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in the United States blamed globalization for the loss of millions of manufacturing jobs, and he threatened to extricate the U.S. from the 2-decade-old North American Free Trade Agreement. Trump also vowed to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, an agreement among 12 Pacific Rim nations that has yet to take effect, if he were elected president. And it comes less than a week after Britain voted to exit the European Union.
Canadian International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland, chair of the Canada-U.S. cabinet committee, noted that the meeting of the three pro -trade leaders comes at an important moment.
“This is a time when a lot of leaders in the world are talking about building walls,” Freeland said in an interview with The Associated Press. “What you are going to hear from the leaders of Canada, the United States and Mexico is that we are a continent and we believe in building bridges. We really believe in the open society. Those are core Canadian values, open to immigration, open to visitors and open to trade.” Trump has also advocated building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
