A list of Canada-U.S. irritants as Thursday’s trilateral Three Amigos summit nears

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This article was published 16/11/2021 (1134 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA – As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meets Thursday with U.S. President Joe Biden and Mexican President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador, observers say Canada has a lot to complain about. Here are some of the issues that have been chafing north of the border:

Pipelines: In addition to Keystone XL, the Biden administration has shown little enthusiasm for Line 3 and Line 5, two key cross-border upgrade projects spearheaded by Calgary-based Enbridge Inc. that have been the targets of widespread protests and legal action in the U.S.

Afghanistan: Canada received little advance warning of the American military’s abrupt and chaotic pullout, despite the prominent, costly and bloody role it played over a decade-long deployment as part of the U.S.-led NATO mission in the war-racked country.

Buy American: The president frequently uses strong protectionist language to assure working-class voters that infrastructure projects will rely heavily on U.S. contractors and suppliers, with stringent conditions for any foreign involvement.

Electric vehicles: Canada’s auto industry is up in arms over a proposed U.S. tax credit worth up to $12,500 to would-be EV buyers that critics, including foreign automakers, say is unfairly geared toward American-made vehicles built with union labour.

Hydro-Quebec: A planned transmission line between Quebec and New England, billed as a clean-energy conduit that would have had a dramatic impact on carbon emissions, was rejected by voters in Maine in a referendum earlier this month.

The Canada-U.S. border: The White House didn’t open its land borders to fully vaccinated Canadian visitors until early November, three months after fully vaccinated U.S. citizens were allowed to drive into Canada.

USMCA: In addition to the EV tax credit, which auto industry officials in Canada consider a violation of the terms of the new trilateral trade deal, Canada and the U.S. are girding for a protracted battle over access to the Canadian dairy market.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 17, 2021.