By Patricia Zengerle, Emily Green and David Brunnstrom
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump’s nominee to be the U.S. ambassador in Ottawa said on Thursday he views Canada as an independent nation, pledging to respect its sovereignty amid a global trade war and hostile rhetoric that has roiled diplomatic relations.
“Canada is a sovereign state, yes,” Peter Hoekstra told his Senate confirmation hearing, when Democratic Senator Chris Coons of Delaware asked if he agreed Canada is a sovereign state and should not be even jokingly referred to as the 51st state.
Hoekstra, a former Republican House of Representatives member from Michigan, is expected to be confirmed, as are Ronald Johnson as ambassador to Mexico and George Glass as ambassador to Japan.
All three testified at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing far more conciliatory than current rhetoric surrounding U.S. relations with Canada and Mexico. All three nominees also served as U.S. ambassadors during Trump’s first time.
“We have a great history of working together,” Hoekstra said although he stressed Trump’s interest in “freer, fairer trade,” which he said would strengthen Canadian businesses.
Canada, Mexico and Japan are three of the United States’ top five trading partners.
Johnson said he was interested in increasing the U.S.-Mexican trade relationship but did not rule out unilateral U.S. military action in Mexico if U.S. citizens were in danger.
“Should there be a case where the lives of U.S. citizens are at risk, I think all cards are on the table,” Johnson said.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has said any such operations would violate the country’s sovereignty.
DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS ROILED
Trump has threatened steep tariffs against a wide range of imported goods, prompting threats of retaliatory duties in a trade war that has roiled financial markets and raised recession fears.
Trump has also suggested that the United States should annex Canada, referring to it repeatedly as a U.S. state.
Trump also has mused about the alliance with Japan, saying it obliged the U.S. to defend Japan but not vice versa, while Tokyo makes money on its U.S. ties.
Glass said Washington will “undoubtedly” have to ask Japan for an increase in its financial contribution for the upkeep of U.S. forces there, referring to an agreement due to be renegotiated in 2027.
Glass said Japan was home to 60,000 U.S. troops and Tokyo had been providing support for the U.S. military there of around $1.4 billion a year, while the sophistication of Chinese forces had grown and the cost of pushing back against Beijing had become “significantly more expensive.”
“Whether we have weapons systems that we need to upgrade, command-and-control that we’re going to be upgrading along with the Japanese, these are very expensive ventures,” he said.
“And so undoubtedly, I do believe we’re going to have to go to the Japanese and talk about an increase in that support.”
Glass said the relationship between the allies was “at an apex … an all-time high,” and referred to a summit between Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at which the two sides committed to pursue a new golden age of relations.
Glass said there was currently a delivery backlog of $50 billion worth of U.S. military equipment ordered by Japan and this needed to be resolved quickly.
He said he had been reading about co-production of some items, including AMRAAM air-to-air missiles, made by RTX, formerly Raytheon, and “that just seems to be a much more efficient way to do business and to be able to give them the ability to help us push back against China.”
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle, David Brunnstrom and Emily Green; Editing by Sandra Maler)
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