With President Donald Trumps’ recent behavior concerning tariffs on the United States’ nearest neighbors and now threatening the European continent as well, a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and European leaders was inevitable. The prime minister’s five-day trip to the continent contained a visit to Brussels to meet with other European leaders and a trip to Paris to attend an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action Summit. Both meetings hold high importance as the United States has continued to navigate a new administration’s foreign policy. In addition to the tariffs being put on numerous countries, the arrival of DeepSeek AI from the Chinese market has caused more concern and need for regulation on that market.  

Trudeau has taken the opportunity to meet with the other leaders to not only formulate a response to the growing number of tariffs but also a push to strengthen ties between the U.S. and other countries. For a long time, Canada has had a loose relationship with the European market, mainly due to their close and beneficial ties with their southern neighbor. However, with tensions high and the economic advantages fading, Canada has begun to look elsewhere for a potential replacement in their market.  

At the same time, European countries are also looking towards Canada not only as an ally against the growing ambitions of America but also as a useful member in their markets. Canada has numerous raw materials, specifically energy with an abundance of electricity and oil. As the war rages between Russia and Ukraine and the European Union (EU) is looking for alternatives to Russian fuel, Canada could be the replacement they have been looking for. The country also provides a healthy and useful market to ship their goods to.  

This meeting in Brussels marks a shift in geopolitical affairs as this clear sign of realignment with political relationships shows that Canada can find allies and trading partners elsewhere. The meeting also acted as a way for these leaders to discuss the upcoming AI conference happening in Paris soon after. With both China and the U.S. to be in attendance and with the DeepSeek AI hitting the market, this meeting is sure to contain high tensions.  

This meeting will not only cover security issues over the growing technology, but also how it fits into the public world, the business aspect of it and the capability of the many global bodies to govern it. As AI is pushed more and more into our societies and global events, the need to establish guidelines and regulations grows with it. This also comes at a time when China is making the market competitive, selling DeepSeek cheaper to companies to use compared to the other AI on the market. As tech companies try to outcompete one another tighter restrictions need to be established to not allow this technology to get out of hand.  

However, tensions have risen between two key players of the U.S. and the EU regarding regulations and global governance, relating to events such as the U.S. pulling out of the World Health Organization (WHO), the Paris Climate accord and now questioning the International Code Council (ICC)’s legitimacy. With Trump beginning to question and pull away from collaboration between global states there is concern amongst leaders of the superpower’s willingness to agree to any limitations to their country’s businesses.  

Trudeau’s trip to Europe is a turning point in global relations as Canada begins to pull away from their long-standing relationship with the U.S. His meeting with these global leaders will display the globe’s resistance to unchecked American aggression as the country continues to heave threats of economic tariffs, hopefully not creating too much tension as global leaders meet in Paris to discuss the future of AI.