MONTREAL — Canada is relaunching its Team Canada missions to the United States, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday, in a preemptive charm offensive against a potential new Donald Trump presidency.

Trade Minister Mary Ng and Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne will take point, with support from Canada’s ambassador in Washington, Kirsten Hillman, Trudeau said at his cabinet retreat at Montreal’s Queen Elizabeth hotel.

“We made it through the challenges represented by the Trump administration seven years ago, for four years where we’ve put forward the fact that Canada and the U.S. do best when we do it together,” Trudeau said.

Canada benefits from a stable relationship with the United States, he said in French. “Mr. Trump represents a certain—” he hesitated “—uncertainty.”

Whoever wins November’s presidential election, the U.S.-Canada-Mexico free trade agreement is up for renewal in 2026, and Canada wants to lay groundwork.

The White House isn’t the only prize in that election, Hillman observed after Trudeau’s announcement: “It’s an election for the 435 members of the House, 34 senators, 11 governors, including five governors in states with borders with Canada.”

Champagne said Canada and the United States are more tightly linked than ever.

“Our supply chains are much more integrated,” he said, pointing to biomanufacturing, autos and semiconductors, in which the Liberals have invested heavily. We need to make sure Americans know it, he said.

“You need to engage with mayors, you want to engage with governors, you want to engage with senators, with congressmen and -women,” he said. “You want to engage with the chamber of commerce, you want to go to Minneapolis, you want to go to Dallas, you want to go to Denver, you want to go to Boston.”

“We need to not only be very deliberate about making sure that we’re mapping the conversations that we’re having, [but] identifying if there’s any gaps.” Hillman said.

“There are literally millions of Canadians and Americans who interact every day,” she said. “We want to engage with them to understand what they’re hearing and then, frankly, deploy Canadians to the U.S. to talk with their counterparts about the strength of our relationship.”

Sometimes friends fight, though. The two countries have a long war over whether Canada subsidizes its industry; Health Minister Mark Holland has been fending off U.S. efforts to import cheaper medications from Canada.

Regardless of disputes or U.S. voters’ choices, Canada’s message will be similar, said Hillman: “At the local level, Republican or Democrat, people care about jobs, security, prosperity, clean water, energy security, energy affordability—those aren’t really partisan issues.”