Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s five-day visit to Europe offers Canada a chance to shore up its relationship with the European Union and show Canadian leadership in artificial intelligence regulation, experts say.
Trudeau will spend many of the trip in Paris for the AI Motion Summit, the third major global meeting focused on the rapidly expanding field. He’ll then make a stop in Brussels for a gathering of Canadian and European Union leaders.
The visit comes after U.S. President Donald Trump paused his threatened tariffs on Canadian imports for nearly a month — and as Trump signals Europe could possibly be his next goal.
“Canada gained this short reprieve and the EU has been threatened with the American tariffs as well, so it is smart for Canada and the EU to co-ordinate responses,” said Carleton University’s Achim Hurrelmann, who studies EU politics.
Per week ago, Trump signed an order to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Mexican and Canadian imports, with a lower 10 per cent tariff on Canadian energy. But after two phone calls with Trudeau — during which the prime minister laid out his government’s plans to handle Trump’s stated concerns about border security and drug trafficking — Trump put the tariffs on hold until March 4.
Trump said the tariffs could be on pause to see if a “final Economic deal” could possibly be reached with Canada.
As they discuss ways to spice up Canada-EU trade, Hurrelmann said, European representatives may ask Trudeau to elucidate how he managed to get the extension.
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“The entire tariff saga has form of reinvigorated Canada’s perennial debate about diversifying trade, and Europe has all the time been one region where there’s the perception … trade could increase,” he said, adding Europe could also be particularly excited about Canada’s strategic raw materials.
Canada and the EU have a friendly relationship, Hurrelmann said, and consider themselves well-aligned on global issues through two core agreements — the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement and a strategic partnership agreement.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said recently that Canada’s trade cope with the European Union is “very essential and is a component of our vision for diversifying our markets.”
Hurrelmann said Europe and Canada have been slow to strengthen ties, “especially economic ties.”
“The Canadian economy is so focused on the USA, and for the European economy, Canada is a comparatively small, faraway market,” he said.
But now, he said, the connection could have the push it needs to maneuver beyond the established order.
The short jaunt to Brussels, Hurrelmann said, is probably going about “signalling to one another that we are going to co-ordinate, and signalling the identical thing to the skin world and likewise to the Americans.”
Artificial intelligence can also be prone to come up within the talks with EU representatives in Brussels, he said.
In a press release, the Prime Minister’s Office said the meetings in Brussels will “discuss ways to advance our collective efforts to strengthen transatlantic security, protect the rules-based international order, proceed supporting Ukraine, and create opportunities for our peoples, constructing on the success” of the present trade agreement.
Trudeau can also be scheduled to fulfill with NATO secretary-general Mark Rutte while in Brussels.
With Trump and the U.S. tech sector pushing back on EU efforts to control artificial intelligence, Hurrelmann said the EU’s recent artificial intelligence laws could possibly be a “major future area of conflict” between Europe and the U.S.
The AI Motion Summit in Paris follows previous international meetings within the U.K. and South Korea.
While those events were more focused on questions on AI safety and the threats the technology poses, the Paris meeting will give attention to such themes as AI and the general public interest, the longer term of labor, innovation and culture, and trust in global governance of the technology.
Trudeau also could have a probability to fulfill with other heads of state on the summit. U.S. Vice President JD Vance is ready to attend, and the summit can be co-chaired by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron.
China’s Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang can also be expected to be in Paris — just because the Chinese AI model DeepSeek is shaking up the sector.
DeepSeek offers corporations access to its AI chatbot at a fraction of the price of its rivals, and will push other corporations to enhance their models and convey down prices.
Rowan Wilkinson, a research analyst for the digital society program at Chatham House within the U.K., said that given the friction between Washington and the EU over regulation, “specific agreements on the direction and rules for AI seem further and further out of reach.”
She added in an email that with Vance confirmed to attend the summit, “the attendance of China is way anticipated and would signal a maintained and serious dialogue between these two pivotal players.”
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