Trade, Afghan concerns as Obama meets Canadian PM

President Barack Obama met Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper at the White House Wednesday, amid Canadian fears of US protectionism and Ottawa's fresh vow to pull troops out of Afghanistan by 2011.

The Oval Office talks took place just a week before both leaders will be key players in efforts to adjust global strategies for beating recession at the G20 summit of world economic powerhouses and developing nations in Pittsburgh.

Both men faced intense political pressure at home ahead of their encounter, a scenario which often leads to tension in the crucial multi-billion dollar trading relationship along the continent-wide US-Canada border.

Harper said before he left Canada he would press the US government and key leaders in Congress over a "Buy American" clause in a US stimulus package which Canadian businesses say thwarts their rights of competition.

"I think it's critical that we resist forces of protectionism," Harper said in an interview with Canada's CTV television.

"But frankly... the United States in particular cannot be a credible voice for keeping trade flows going if it can't deal with trade irritants with its single-best trading partner," Harper said.

The Obama administration has said the "Buy American" clause in the 787 billion dollar stimulus plan, which critics complain amounts to blatant protectionism, will not be enforced in a way that infringes US trade agreements.

But Harper told CTV: "in the American system, particularly when it comes to issues of trade and protectionism, often our bigger challenges are in Congress, as opposed to the administration."

The provision, which has also alarmed Mexico and key US trading partners, requires US states and municipalities to use only iron, steel and goods manufactured in the United States for federally funded infrastructure projects.

Harper's government also made clear before he arrived in Washington that it would stick to his vow to withdraw combat troops from Afghanistan by 2011, even as the US footprint there seems set to deepen.

"As far as the specific issue of extending the mission, this government's position is clear," said Dimitri Soudas, a spokesman for Harper on Monday.

"The military component of the mission ends in 2011 and following 2011, we will look at what other contribution it can bring to the table, be it in reconstruction, be it in development, be it aid, be it training resources, but the military component of the mission comes to an end in 2011."

Obama is currently studying a classified strategy review of the Afghan conflict by US war commander Stanley McChrystal and on Tuesday Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, told lawmakers more US troops would probably have to go to Afghanistan to defeat the Taliban.

Canada currently has some 2,800 soldiers deployed in Afghanistan, primarily in the southern Taliban stronghold of Kandahar.

Its forces have paid a heavy price, with 129 soldiers being killed there since 2002.

Canada has already said it will urge G20 counterparts next week to maintain elevated government spending to bolster the global economy, as some European states push for quicker exit strategies.

"Although we are seeing greater stability in our economies, a private sector recovery has yet to take hold and government stimulus remains central to recovery," a senior Canadian finance official said this month.

So it is "very important to keep the stimulus in place... and finish the job," the official said.

Both leaders may find their room for maneuver constrained by domestic political problems.

Obama is deploying his political capital to push a landmark health reform bill through Congress, while Harper's minority Conservative government has been waging an apparently successful battle for survival ahead of an effective no-confidence motion on Friday.

Obama made his first foreign visit as President to Canada in February, and the two men have met at various other international meetings -- including in Mexico at an Americas summit in August.