Prime Minister Stephen Harper has told Fox News and its American audience that Canada is not willing to take in Guantanamo Bay detainees.

In a wide-ranging interview from his office on Parliament Hill on Friday afternoon, Harper said his government has a strong record in opposing terrorism and is "not offering Canada as a safe haven for anyone that the United States considers to be a terrorist."

Without mentioning Omar Khadr by name, the prime minister said there is a Canadian at Guantanamo who's charged, and his government is waiting to see what U.S. President Barack Obama's administration does in that particular case.

Toronto-born Khadr, 22, is accused of killing a U.S. medic during a firefight in Afghanistan in 2002 when he was 15 years old.

This week, four of the 17 Uighurs being held at Guantanamo were sent to Bermuda, and the Pacific islands country of Palau said it would accept others. U.S. officials said two other Guantanamo Bay detainees were released and sent to their home countries of Iraq and Chad on Wednesday.

However, the Obama administration has not decided whether to release Guantanamo Bay detainees in the United States. There has been fierce opposition from Republicans and many Democrats in the U.S. Congress to the idea.

The administration reportedly sent an envoy to Canada to ask the federal government to accept Guantanamo detainees but the request was rejected.

When asked what he thought about Obama's decision to shut the U.S. naval prison in Cuba down by early 2010, Harper said it's ultimately a decision of the United States.

Saying his government has been more understanding than some, Harper noted there had been a lot of international concern about the process at Guantanamo. He said the U.S. will have to find a balance between addressing those concerns, while at the same time maintaining a strong defence against the potential activity of terrorists.

Warns against protectionism

"It's a very difficult problem and I think I'll leave it for President Obama to try and resolve. But we work very closely with his administration as we did with the previous administration in identifying any terrorist suspects and trying to thwart their activities," said Harper.

The U.S. is sending 700 more agents to the U.S.-Canadian border to beef up its security and Harper noted that was a concern when it comes to trade in these tough economic times.

"The concern I think that Canadians have, particularly Canadian business, is the effects this could have on the relatively free movement of trade between our two countries," said Harper.

"We have very integrated economies and we want to ensure that the systems we put in place to deal with security threats do not become barriers to trade or to social interaction."

The prime minister also warned his American audience of the dangers of protectionism and a "Buy American" policy during the recession.

"We see now state and municipal governments in the United States beginning to engage in very protectionist behaviour. We have a significant threat in Canada now that our provinces and our municipalities will do the same thing," said Harper.

Canada's big city mayors are countering a "Buy American" campaign with their own call to "Buy Canadian".

At the recent annual meeting of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities in Whistler, B.C., mayors passed a resolution aimed at a U.S. policy of buying American goods for economic stimulus projects.

Their resolution said U.S. bidders should be shut out of similar projects in Canada and Jean Perrault, the mayor of Sherbrooke, Que., said the U.S. Congress had united Canada's governments with its "Buy American" policy.

Harper said the biggest risk to global economic recovery is an increase in protectionism.

"The worst possible signal we could send to the world right now would be an increase in protectionism and particularly a procurement trade war between Canada and the U.S.," he said.