Biden's Canada Agenda Stacked          03/24 06:01

   President Joe Biden arrived in Canada on Thursday for talks with Prime 
Minister Justin Trudeau on several of the world's most difficult challenges: 
the war in Ukraine, climate change, trade, mass migration and an increasingly 
assertive China.

   OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) -- President Joe Biden arrived in Canada on Thursday 
for talks with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on several of the world's most 
difficult challenges: the war in Ukraine, climate change, trade, mass migration 
and an increasingly assertive China.

   Two important agreements appeared to be in hand before Biden even departed 
Washington. Canada will escalate its timeline for military upgrades to the 
North American Aerospace Defense Command and the two nations have reached an 
agreement to update rules for migrants seeking asylum, according to U.S. and 
Canadian officials. The officials were not authorized to comment publicly and 
requested anonymity.

   The migration deal eliminates a loophole under existing rules that will 
allow both countries to turn away asylum seekers at the countries' borders. The 
loophole resulted in thousands of migrants annually crossing into Canada from 
the U.S. at a non-official checkpoint, enabling them to stay in the country as 
they seek asylum instead of letting the process play out while staying in the 
U.S.

   As part of the agreement, Canada is expected to announce that 15,000 
migrants from the Western Hemisphere will be given slots to apply to enter the 
country, according to a Canadian official.

   The new policy applies to people without U.S. or Canadian citizenship who 
are caught within 14 days of crossing the border between the two countries. 
Biden and Trudeau did not respond to questions from reporters about the 
agreement when the president and first lady Jill Biden arrived for a private 
gathering at the prime minister's residence.

   The White House declined to comment on the agreement, which is expected to 
be formally announced Friday.

   The visit comes as the Biden administration has made strengthening its 
relationship with Canada a priority over the past two years. Both sides see the 
meetings in the capital of Ottawa as an opportunity to set plans for the future.

   National security and air defenses are top of mind after a Chinese spy 
balloon last month traversed North America. Canada plans to update its radar 
systems and has agreed to an accelerated timeline for spending billions more on 
military upgrades for NORAD, which monitors the skies above the continent, 
according to the senior Canadian government official.

   Canada announced last year it is investing $3.8 billion (Canadian $4.9 
billion) over the next six years to modernize NORAD radar systems and billions 
more years later, but David Cohen, the U.S. ambassador to Canada, has said the 
current threat climate calls for quicker investment.

   The loophole in the U.S.-Canada migration rules allowed thousands of 
migrants to cross into Canada from the U.S. at a non-official checkpoint, 
enabling them to stay in the country as they seek asylum instead of letting the 
process play out while staying in the U.S.

   A quirk in a 2002 agreement between the U.S. and Canada says people seeking 
asylum must apply in the first country they arrive in. Migrants who go to an 
official crossing are returned to the U.S. and told to apply there. But those 
who arrive in Canada at a location other than a port of entry are allowed to 
stay and request protection, as has been happening on Roxham Road between 
Champlain, New York, and Quebec.

   More than 39,000 claims were filed in 2022 by people who were intercepted by 
Canadian police, the vast majority of them in Quebec and at Roxham Road.

   The broadened focus of Biden's visit represents an evolution of a friendship 
between the two countries that exceeds 150 years. The emphasis had more 
frequently been on issues like trade that had defined relations between the two 
countries, which share a 5,525-mile border.

   "This visit is about taking stock of what we've done, where we are and what 
we need to prioritize for for the future," said John Kirby, a spokesman for the 
White House National Security Council. "We're going to talk about our two 
democracies stepping up to meet the challenges of our time."

   There will still be an emphasis on trade, yet Canada and the U.S. see the 
partnership as crucial in supporting Ukraine against Russia's invasion, 
reducing their dependence on Chinese goods and shifting toward cleaner energy 
sources amid the planetary damage caused by burning fossil fuels.

   The leaders are also expected to discuss tapping critical minerals that will 
enable the production of electric vehicles, and military and economic 
commitments at a moment that observers say is the most dangerous since World 
War II. Chinese President Xi Jinping this week visited Russian President 
Vladimir Putin, pledging to deepen their economic ties in ways that could help 
fund Putin's ongoing war to take Ukraine.

   "The United States is coming with big strategic issues on their mind," said 
Vincent Rigby, a former national security adviser to Trudeau. "It's a world 
where they're looking to allies to help."

   Trade between the U.S. and Canada totaled an estimated record of $950 
billion (Canadian $1.3 trillion) in 2022. Each day, about 400,000 people cross 
the world's longest international border, and about 800,000 Canadian citizens 
live in the United States. There is close cooperation on defense, border 
security and law enforcement, and a vast overlap in culture, traditions and 
pastimes.

   Biden will address Parliament and Trudeau will host him for a state dinner 
Friday evening. It is Biden's first visit to Canada since he became president, 
but Trudeau also gave Biden a state dinner when he was vice president in 
December 2016 just before Donald Trump took office.

   "It didn't need to have happened. It was an incredibly well timed and wise 
investment on the prime minister's part to do that and I think it's paid 
dividends," said Bruce Heyman, who was U.S. ambassador to Canada at the time.

   Last year, Canada was exempted from the subsidy restrictions for electric 
vehicles in Biden's Inflation Reduction Act. Heyman called it a huge win for 
Canada.

   The NORAD partnership was in the spotlight recently when NORAD tracked a 
suspected Chinese spy balloon that passed over the two countries before being 
shot down over the coast of South Carolina. A U.S. fighter jet later shot down 
an unidentified flying object in Canadian airspace.

   The British, Australians and Japanese are all investing more in defense 
given the threats posed by Beijing and Moscow, and the U.S. expects its 
northern neighbor to do its part.

   Canada has long faced calls to increase its defense spending to 2% of its 
gross domestic product, the agreed-upon target by NATO members. Ottawa spends 
about 1.2% now. Canada announced in January it will purchase 88 F-35 fighter 
jets but at the time of the announcement said the first four won't arrive for 
another three years.

   The U.S. is also pushing Canada to lead an international force in Haiti but 
Canada's top military official has suggested the country doesn't have the 
capacity.