Minister Anand meets with U.S. Secretary Rubio in Washington D.C.

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand met with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington, D.C. Thursday.

It’s their first official meeting amid ongoing tensions in the bilateral relationship between Canada and the United States.

Neither Anand nor Rubio took questions from reporters, but shook hands in front of Canadian and American flags in a room of the U.S. State Department.

Anand and Rubio have previously spoken by phone, including in June ahead of the G7 Leaders’ Summit in Kananaskis.

U.S. President Donald Trump boosted tariffs on Canadian Goods not compliant with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Trade Agreement to 35 per cent earlier this month.

Canada is also being hammered by tariffs on steel, aluminum, copper and automobiles.

With files from The Canadian Press.

WATCH MORE: One in five small businesses won’t survive the next six months, says CFIB