Trudeau, Harris talk about COVID-19 and ‘Buy American’

Toronto, Canada, Feb 1 (efe-epa).- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and US Vice President Kamala Harris spoke Monday over the phone about the COVID-19 pandemic in North America and the world as well as the US government’s “Buy American” regulations.

The conversation is the first Harrias has had with a foreign leader since she took office.

The Office of Canada’s Prime Minister said in a statement that Harris “fondly recalled the years she spent in Montreal, the city where she moved from California when she was 12 after her mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, was hired as a breast cancer researcher and professor at McGill University.” Harris returned to the United States when she was 16.

Trudeau told Harris she wants to “work with the US administration on common priorities, including fighting the COVID-19 pandemic through close collaboration on borders and access to vaccines and building back better.”

“Build Back Better” is the economic plan developed by the administration of President Joe Biden to boost the US manufacturing sector through the purchase of domestic products.

Trudeau also noted his interest in strengthening bilateral relations, “the supply chain and the unintended consequences of Buy American policies.”

Canada has expressed concern that “Buy American” could exclude Canadian products such as steel and aluminum from purchases by US companies.

During the conversation, Trudeau and Harris also agreed on “the centrality of democratic principles and respect for law and justice as values ??that Canada and the United States share” and on the need to increase trust in the government “through greater transparency and effective service delivery.”

The statement didn’t mention the Biden administration’s swift decision to cancel the Keystone XL project, the pipeline owned by a Canadian company that was intended to export hundreds of thousands of barrels of Canadian crude to US refineries.

Environmental and indigenous groups opposed the bill, which was initially rejected during Barack Obama’s presidency but was approved in 2017 when Donald Trump arrived at the White House.

Instead, Canadian authorities said “the prime minister and vice president positively appreciated opportunities for cooperation between Canada and the United States for leadership in combating climate change.” EFE-EPA

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