Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe is spending two days in Washington, D.C., talking about sovereignty. (Canadian Press)Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe has gone to Washington, D.C., in the hopes of selling his dream of an independent Quebec to politicians south of the border.

Duceppe went to the U.S. capital on Thursday for a two-day visit to share his message that Quebec values the United States as an economic partner.

Sovereigntists' desire to achieve Quebec independence from Canada doesn't mean the U.S. has anything to fear, Duceppe said in a telephone interview with The Canadian Press, ahead of his two-day foray.

Quebec does more business with the U.S. than with the rest of Canada, logging about $51 billion in transactions in 2009, which is an "enormous" amount, Duceppe said.

That won't change, even if Quebec does achieve sovereignty one day.

"Every nation has political interests … but the day Quebec becomes a sovereign country, North America's geography won't change, we'll still be in the same place, and so will they. At that point, we'll have to find the best way to get along, Duceppe said.

"Money talks, hein."

Duceppe is meeting with politicians, business leaders and academics during his trip. He had meetings planned with the Peterson Institute for International Economics, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the Hudson Institute, and the Canadian-American Business Council.

With files from The Canadian Press