Published October 31, 2023, 2:49 p.m. ET
Updated October 31, 2023, 6:20 p.m. ET
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrives on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday, October 31, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to be in Washington on Friday as part of U.S. President Joe Biden’s push for greater economic integration in the Western Hemisphere.
“Canada is an invaluable partner in this effort,” U.S. Ambassador David Cohen told The Canadian Press.
Biden has announced a meeting for Friday to help shape the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity, a trade framework.
Cohen said Trudeau will attend those meetings, although the prime minister’s office has not confirmed his schedule.
“I’m pretty sure the first invitation to come to this conference was to Prime Minister Trudeau,” Cohen said Tuesday.
“It’s very important for President Biden to be there.”
The project aims to create more jobs and restore trust in democracy by strengthening the region’s economic competitiveness by dozens of countries, although it is not a trade agreement.
It seeks cooperation from a dozen countries, from Chile and the Dominican Republic to Barbados, on everything from forest protection and anti-corruption measures to leveraging private investment for climate-resilient infrastructure.
Biden announced the program at the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles in June 2022.
“The entire plan is to bring North American countries together and focus on their shared opportunities for prosperity and economic development,” Cohen said.
The ambassador said Canada shares the values the U.S. wants to represent in the region, adding that there will be “some nice and interesting announcements” at the meeting.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31, 2023.
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