President Donald Trump took a swipe at Prime Minister Mark Carney on social media on Saturday, saying he would place a 100% tariff on all Canadian goods if Canada becomes a “drop off port” for Chinese exports to the US. That was a response to a recent agreement that will see Canada reduce tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles in return for trade concessions on food, including canola and beef.
Canada isn’t negotiating a free trade deal with China, Anand reiterated in an interview Sunday with the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. But the country has no choice but to forge ahead with its strategy to double its non-US exports within 10 years, she suggested. “We need to protect and empower the Canadian economy and trade diversification is fundamental to that,” Anand said. “That is why we went to China, that’s why we will be going to India and that is why we won’t put all our eggs in one basket.” Energy Minister Tim Hodgson is heading to Goa where he’ll attend an energy conference and hold meetings with officials in Indian industry and PM Narendra Modi’s government.
The two sides are expected to talk about cooperation and potential deals on critical minerals, uranium and liquefied natural gas. Canada has an abundance of those resources. Carney is also planning to visit India soon, and he’ll be making a trip to Australia in March. Anand emphasised, however, that Canada and the US still have a strong relationship and she expects that will continue.
It’s one of the world’s largest bilateral trade relationships, in fact. Despite ongoing tensions over tariffs, the US exported about $280 billion of goods to Canada in the first 10 months of last year – more than to any other country – while importing $322 billion from Canada, according to US Commerce Department data.