WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto will meet in Ottawa for the “Three Amigos” North American Leaders’ Summit on June 29.
The summit, with two key U.S. trading partners, comes as Obama grapples with a wave of anti-trade sentiment that has stalled ratification of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a sweeping 12-nation pact that includes Canada and Mexico.
Obama hopes the U.S. Congress will ratify the deal before he leaves office on Jan. 20. But trade has become a lightning rod issue in the presidential election campaign to replace him.
Republican Donald Trump, now his party’s presumptive nominee for 2016, has attacked the TPP. In the Democratic campaign, Senator Bernie Sanders has opposed the trade deal, and Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton has also expressed concerns.
The last “Three Amigos” summit was in Toluca, Mexico in 2014. Last year’s summit was postponed because of the Canadian election.
“I look forward to meeting with President Obama and President Peña Nieto to make real progress on the challenges we collectively face — whether we can expand trade between our nations, build competitive clean-growth economies, or create real help for middle-class families,” Trudeau said in a statement.
Obama will address Canada’s Parliament during the visit, the White House said. He last visited Canada in February 2009, the first foreign trip of his presidency.
