Canada has signed new economic agreements with China as Ottawa seeks to ease trade tensions with Washington. Announced late on Monday following talks in Vancouver, the agreements deepen financial cooperation between Canada and China as Prime Minister Mark Carney prepares to head to Shenzhen for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. Canada’s Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne and International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu hosted He Lifeng, vice-premier of China, in Vancouver for negotiations.
Champagne said: “As two major economies with significant commercial ties, Canada and China share an interest in maintaining an open dialogue and advancing economic cooperation. China will continue charging lower tariffs on Canadian products, including canola meal, peas, lobster and crab. In return, Canada will continue allowing certain Chinese steel and aluminum products into the country without additional tariffs.
The deal is designed to help Canadian farmers and seafood businesses sell more products to China while giving Canadian companies access to Chinese metals they cannot easily buy at home. The agreement also comes as Canada seeks to diversify its trade relationships amid continuing tariff disputes with the United States. Carney said Washington had withdrawn a proposal that would have given the United States final approval over Canadian trade agreements with other countries.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has said a deal with Canada is close, but significant differences remain between the neighboring countries. The discussions produced three agreements covering cooperation between the countries' finance ministries, financial regulators and central banks. The arrangements establish closer dialogue on economic policy, cooperation between financial regulators and a joint working group involving the two countries' central banks.
Both sides also welcomed progress on a bilateral currency-swap arrangement and agreed to pursue greater financial-services market access. The meetings followed Carney's January visit to Beijing, when he and Chinese President Xi Jinping announced a renewed strategic partnership. The agreements form part of Carney's efforts to reduce Canada's economic dependence on the United States by expanding trade with other countries.
Speaking at a press conference, asked whether the new deal could jeopardize Canada’s trading relationship with the United States, Champagne said: “I would say every G7 country has a strategic relationship with China. You know, we are engaging. It’s very clear what are the guard rails.” Philippe Rheault, director of the China Institute at the University of Alberta, who attended a reception with the Canadian finance minister and the Chinese and Canadian delegations in Vancouver, said: “My read of both ministers’ remarks is that the Canadian government is clearly signaling its plans to continue to lean in on broadened engagement with China, notwithstanding recent political developments in Washington.” Meanwhile, the extension builds on an agreement reached during Carney's visit to Beijing in January, which helped ease a trade dispute that had hit Canadian agricultural exports.
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