Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in Washington, D.C., to celebrate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, but local focus on trade is what dominates his agenda on the first day of his visit.

The NATO summit officially begins on Tuesday. Before the NATO opening event tomorrow, Trudeau will have already participated in four business meetings for Team Canada with American business leaders and lawmakers.

The Prime Minister aims to boost trade opportunities for Canadians and will meet with Joshua Bolten, the CEO of Business Roundtable, which represents the heads of major companies like Google and Apple.

Trudeau will also meet with U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Meeting with Wes Moore, the Governor of Maryland, is also on Trudeau's agenda.

The United States is Canada's most important trading partner. Last year, the bilateral trade between the two countries reached $1.3 trillion.

According to a senior government source, discussions will focus on enhancing and protecting the supply chain between the U.S. and Canada regarding critical minerals, electric vehicles, and semiconductors.

Who will join Trudeau?

The Prime Minister has brought a delegation of liberal MPs to participate in some of these trade discussions on the sidelines of the NATO summit.

Among them are Anthony Housefather, Vance Badawey, Francesco Sorbara, and James Maloney, who are members of the Canada-U.S. Parliamentary Group, alongside Judy Sgro, who chairs the International Trade Committee, and Cody Blois, who chairs the Agriculture Committee.

Defense Minister Bill Blair and Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly will attend the NATO summit, but it is unclear whether they will join the trade discussions. Canadian NATO Parliamentary Assembly Chair Julie Dzerowicz is also in Washington.

This recent focus on Canadian-American relations follows Prime Minister Trudeau's announcement of the "Team Canada" initiative last January. This move aims to protect Canada's interests as it prepares for a review of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the potential re-election of Donald Trump.

Trade Minister Mary Ng and Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne are leading this strategy, along with Canada's Ambassador to the U.S. Kirsten Hillman.

Parliamentary reporters were informed of the addition of business meetings to the Prime Minister's official schedule on Friday.

This trip to Washington comes just two weeks after the liberals suffered a bitter loss in a by-election in Ontario that they were expected to win, following a vote in favor of the Conservative Party, putting Trudeau's leadership under intense scrutiny. Even MPs from within his party and former ministers in the Liberal government have urged Trudeau to step down.

U.S. President Joe Biden is facing similar pressures from the Democratic Party. After a poor debate performance against former Republican President Donald Trump, more Democrats are calling for Biden to drop out of the presidential race and make way for a younger candidate. Major donors are also threatening to stop writing checks to finance his race, but Biden has said he has no intention of stepping back from his presidential bid.

Similarly, Trudeau and his inner circle have insisted that he is the best liberal candidate to face Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre in next year's election, despite polls showing him trailing Poilievre by as much as 20 points.