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Obama hosts Canada's Trudeau, focusing on climate change, trade

Xinhua, March 11, 2016 Adjust font size:

U.S. President Barack Obama welcomed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the White House on Thursday, eyeing to promote cooperation on climate change and boost trade between the neighboring countries.

The U.S. and Canada will work together to implement the climate change agreement reached last year in Paris, and commit to join and sign the agreement "as soon as feasible", the White House said in a statement.

In an effort to achieve climate change commitments, the leaders pledged to reduce methane emissions by 40-45 percent below 2012 levels by 2025 from the oil and gas sector, the world's largest industrial methane source.

"Both of our nations are threatened by rising seas, melting permafrost, disappearing glaciers and sea ice," Obama said at a joint press conference with Trudeau at the White House. "We are focusing on making sure the Paris agreement is fully implemented and we're working to double our investments in clean energy research and development."

Both leaders also highlighted the need to further facilitate trade between the U.S. and Canada, who enjoy the largest bilateral trade and investment relationship in the world, according to the White House.

Every day, almost 400,000 people and some 2 billion U.S. dollars worth of goods and services cross the U.S.-Canadian border, making the two economies deeply integrated.

"We want to make it easier to trade and invest with one another," Obama said, referring to steps that include reducing bottlenecks and streamlining regulations.

Trudeau's visit to the White House is the first official visit by a Canadian Prime Minister to the U.S. in 19 years. It comes as an indication of a thaw in bilateral ties after years of frosty relationship due to the controversial Keystone XL pipeline project.

Despite the advocacy of the project by Stephen Harper, Trudeau's predecessor, Obama rejected the project last November, citing environmental concerns.

In an interview with CBC Radio, Canada's national public radio broadcaster, Canada's new ambassador to the United States David MacNaughton said the focus on the Keystone XL pipeline project has strained Canada-U.S. relations, making it difficult for the two countries to make progress on other major initiatives.

"There's no question that that particular dispute sucked all the oxygen out of the room in terms of the relationship," said MacNaughton. Enditem