Trade talk is set to dominate the first meeting between US President Donald Trump and Justin Trudeau as the Canadian Prime Minister arrives in Washington.

Mr Trudeau has been a fierce critic of Mr Trump’s immigration ban, so speculation is rife as to how far he will go in bringing the issue up.

But so far all eyes have been on the handshake.

Would the dashing Canadian leader get tied up in the same sort of awkward grasp suffered by Japan’s Shinzo Abe?

The relieved look on that Prime Minister’s face after extricating himself from a 19 second wrangle with the President has inspired an array of hilarious internet memes.

The end of the 19 second handshake with PM of Japan Abe and Trump.. cringe-worthy! Watch the PM roll his eyes. pic.twitter.com/UCyssLemGM

— MoinSanFranciscoCA 🇺🇦 (@SanFranMoman) February 12, 2017

While the White House photographers snapped away, Mr Trump pulled Mr Abe’s hand close, patted it several times and began to push his hand back and forwards … later saying “strong hands” as the media left.

However Mr Trudeau, the third head of state to visit the new administration in the White House, escaped with just a 2.5 second grip.

https://twitter.com/alldaymax1/status/831194172421988356

Trudeau resisting Trump's weird handshake is the biggest display of dominance in the history of Canada

— Brandy Jensen (@BrandyLJensen) February 13, 2017

I love @JustinTrudeau so much. #trudeautrump pic.twitter.com/xBJh8YCPLO

— Paul Algu (@PaulAlgu12) February 13, 2017

Mr Trudeau’s advisers expect the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between Canada, US and Mexico – criticised by Mr Trump – to feature prominently in their discussions.

The United States is Canada’s top trading partner, with more than 75 per cent of Canadian exports going to the US in 2016.

Mr Trudeau said ahead of his visit that he would discuss “the fact that millions of good jobs on both sides of our border depend on smooth flow of goods and services across that border.”

He also said they would discuss things they disagree on, seen as a possible reference to Mr Trump’s now blocked executive order suspending the US refugee program, banning Syrian refugees indefinitely and temporarily banning travellers from Muslim countries.

The meeting is being carefully watched for signs of how Mr Trump will carry out his international diplomacy face-to-face, given his liking for making statements on Twitter, and after making unexpected headlines with some of his previous conversations with world leaders.

Wonderful meeting with Canadian PM @JustinTrudeau and a group of leading CEO's & business women from Canada🇨🇦and the United States🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/Rxr31QpxMK

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 13, 2017

Tough talk on North Korea

Mr Trump used his media conference with Mr Trudeau to talk tough on North Korea, a day after the ‘rogue state’ provocatively fired a new type of ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan.

“Obviously North Korea is a big, big problem and we will deal with that very strongly,” The President said.

The US leader did not detail how he would respond to North Korea’s actions.

Trump also talks trade with South Africa

Mr Trump has also spoken with South African President Jacob Zuma about trade ties and stability in Africa.

Mr Zuma’s office said in a statement that the two leaders talked on the telephone on Monday afternoon, reaffirming their commitment to building the “already strong” relationship between their nations.

There are 600 American companies operating in South Africa and strong US-South African trade ties.

Mr Zuma’s office says the two leaders discussed working together on multilateral issues as well as “the quest for peace and stability on the African continent”.