Foreign Relations of the United States, 1981–1988, Volume XXXVIII, International Economic Development; International Debt; Foreign Assistance

5. Memorandum of Conversation¹

Ottawa, March 10, 1981, 4–5 p.m.

SUBJECT

• Summary of President’s Meeting with Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada

PARTICIPANTS

• President Ronald Reagan
• Secretary of State, Alexander Haig
• Secretary of the Treasury, Donald Regan
• Secretary of Commerce, Malcolm Baldrige
• United States Trade Representative, William Brock
• Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff, James A. Baker III
• Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff, Michael K. Deaver
• Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, Richard V. Allen
• Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs and Policy, Martin Anderson
• Assistant to the President and Press Secretary, James S. Brady
• Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs, Myer Rashish
• Under Secretary for International Trade, Lionel Olmer
• Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs, Ambassador Lawrence Eagleburger
• Assistant Secretary–Designate, Robert Hormats
• Charge d’Affaires, Richard Smith
• Director, International Economics, Office of Bilateral Affairs for Canada, A.J. Stoler
• Special Assistant to the Secretary of State, Rozanne Ridgway
• Assistant Secretary-Designate for International Trade, Mark Leland
• Senior NSC Staff Member, James Rentschler
• The Prime Minister of Canada, Pierre Trudeau
• Minister of State for Economic Development, Senator Olson
• The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, A. J. MacEachen
• The Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Whelan
• The Minister of Industry, Trade and Commerce, Mr. Gray
• The Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, Mr. LeBlanc
• The Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources, Mr. Lalonde
• The Minister of National Defense, Mr. Lamontagne
• The Minister of the Environment, Mr. Roberts
• The Minister of State for International Trade, Mr. Lumley
• The Secretary of State for External Affairs, Dr. MacGuigan
• Under Secretary of State for External Affairs, Mr. Gotlieb
• Clerk of the Privy Council, Mr. Pitfield
• Canadian Ambassador to Washington, Peter Towe
• Office of the Prime Minister, Mr. J. Coutts
• Notetaker, Mr. Ted Lee

[Omitted here is discussion unrelated to North-South relations and the Cancun Summit.]

Prime Minister Trudeau said that at lunch he and the President had exchanged views on the energy aspects of the North-South dialogue. He said they had privately discussed the Mexico and Ottawa Summits and suggested that the President might want to repeat in the plenary session what he had shared with the Prime Minister concerning Lopez Portillo. (C)

The President stated that Lopez Portillo had wanted to host a Summit in Mexico this summer. The President said that he explained to Lopez Portillo that he would be prepared to attend if the timing could be changed to the fall and if no Cubans were present. Those were the only two conditions the President had stipulated. The President added that he planned to see Lopez Portillo in late April and will discuss the subject further with him at that time.² (C)

Prime Minister Trudeau observed that the President’s conditions for attending such a Summit seemed reasonable. The Prime Minister added that he hoped he hadn’t stuck his neck out and that perhaps it would be a good idea to hear from Foreign Minister MacGuigan who had gone to Vienna for an earlier preparatory meeting. (C)

Foreign Minister MacGuigan responded that the Mexicans themselves were not yet clear as to how they wished to proceed and that there were mixed feelings in the Mexican delegation concerning a Cuban presence, with some of the more leftist members pushing for such a presence and others against it. The Foreign Minister expressed his belief that the situation can be sorted out. (C)

The President said we’re with you! (laughter) (U)

Prime Minister Trudeau asked to what extent the Soviets were likely to attend. (C)

Foreign Minister MacGuigan replied that an invitation was still open. (U)

Prime Minister Trudeau said that it was fair to say that his objection to a Soviet presence was not so much ideological although clearly Canada had problems in that respect with a possible Soviet participation, but rather with the fact that a Soviet presence would change the character of the meeting itself. (C)

Foreign Minister MacGuigan asserted that this was precisely the point. Lord Carrington, he said, feels as strongly as the Canadians do but unfortunately he was not at Vienna to help Canada support that position. (C)

Secretary Haig stated that we did not want to seem to be in a position of opposing Soviet attendance. If it was necessary to apply some leverage, we would certainly welcome it but would not wish to be doing it ourselves. (C)

Prime Minister Trudeau suggested that this was the kind of strategic exchange which should occur during the Ottawa Summit. There were a number of aspects to consider. Should the West be inclined to force the Soviet Union to pay something in order to attend such a Summit, with the hope that they will send development assistance to the Third World as well as guns? Or do we keep them out? We have to take some approach on them, or we will be as split as we were immediately following Afghanistan. The Ottawa format would be conducive to such a strategic exchange. In that connection, the Prime Minister went on to make the plea that North-South issues are a very important component of world security. How we distinguish between friends that help us and those who do not, and how we should set about filling vacuums warrants a great deal of further discussion. (C)

The President said that he strongly supported the idea of less ceremony and more informality in the Summit context so that the discussions can be more meaningful. (C)

[Omitted here is discussion of issues other than the Cancun Summit.]

1. Source: Reagan Library, Martin Anderson Files, Subject File, Ottawa Summit—Meeting with PM Trudeau, July 10, 1981. Confidential. The meeting took place in the Cabinet Room in the Canadian Parliament Building. No drafting information appears on the memorandum. The full text of the memorandum of conversation is scheduled for publication in Foreign Relations, 1981–1988, vol. VII, Western Europe, 1981–1984.
2. Reagan communicated this information to López Portillo during a telephone conversation on February 27. A summary of this telephone conversation is scheduled for publication in Foreign Relations, 1981–1988, vol. XVII, pt. 1, Mexico; Western Caribbean. According to telegram 90341 to Mexico City, April 10, the bilateral border meeting between Reagan and López Portillo originally scheduled for April 27 to 28 was postponed. (Department of State, Central Foreign Policy File, Electronic Telegrams, D810170–0155)