Beijing
—
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney praised a new “strategic partnership” with China in a meeting with leader Xi Jinping on Friday, as the U.S. ally took steps to mend relations with China in the face of historic friction with Donald Trump.
In a statement after the meeting, Ottawa said Canada will ease tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles and expects China to significantly lower barrier tariffs on Canadian canola seed later this year, a major step toward easing long-standing trade tensions.
Mr. Carney’s visit to Canada will be his first since 2017, when relations between the two countries soured a year after Canada arrested an executive at Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei at the request of the United States, and shortly after that, the Chinese government jailed two Canadians.
The prime minister’s visit this week revealed new goals for Ottawa. It was meant to move Ottawa’s economy closer to its second-largest trading partner after a year in which President Trump escalated trade and political tensions with Canada, imposing steep tariffs and publicly mulling making the country the 51st U.S. state.
Mr. Carney met Mr. Xi at Beijing’s ornate Great Hall of the People on Friday morning and said a “new strategic partnership” between the two countries could help improve a strained international system.
“We can build on the best parts of our old relationship and build a new one that adapts to new world realities,” Carney said in a speech, adding that both countries would focus on areas where they can have “historic gains,” such as agriculture and energy.
He added that deepening partnerships would “help improve” the multilateral system, which “has come under great strain in recent years.”
This language is a sharp departure from recent rhetoric in which Canada and its G7 partners have expressed concern about Beijing’s activities on the world stage and its interference in democracy.
And the policy is sure to be welcomed by Beijing, which has long considered driving a wedge between the United States and its allies and reshaping a world order that it believes is unfairly dominated by its own allies.
In his remarks to Carney, Mr. Xi said the two countries should “proceed to build a new type of China-Canada strategic partnership.”
A joint statement after the meeting said the two countries “welcome progress in resolving trade issues through consultations,” according to a copy published by Chinese state media Xinhua News Agency.
A separate statement from Canada states that Canada will allow up to 49,000 Chinese-made electric vehicles (EVs) to enter the Canadian market at a most-favored-nation tariff rate of 6.1%. The move removes what had been a stumbling block in relations between the two countries, namely the 100% across-the-board tariffs on products that Canada, in conjunction with the United States, imposed in 2024.
The agreement “facilitates significant new Chinese joint venture investment” in Canada’s auto industry, the statement said.
Canada also said it expects China to reduce tariffs on Canadian canola seeds to about 15% by March 1. This is a significant reduction from the roughly 85% level imposed on rapeseed imports to China, which accounts for a $4 billion market. Canada said other items, such as lobster and peas, would also have tariffs eliminated on that schedule.
Last March, China announced retaliatory tariffs on Canadian agricultural products and food, hurting Canadian farmers and effectively shutting down Canada’s second-largest agricultural market.
Mr. Carney and Mr. Xi discussed increasing two-way investment in areas such as clean energy, technology, agricultural products and wood products as part of the goal of increasing exports to China by 50% by 2030, Mr. Ottawa said.
Carney, who was elected in April amid worsening relations with the United States, is seeking to strengthen ties with other partners, including Europe, India and now China.
President Trump imposed tariffs on Canadian goods last year (though many are exempt under existing trade agreements) and has frequently called for Canada to become the “51st state,” sparking concern and mistrust among Canadians.
While that rhetoric has subsided, Ottawa is paying close attention to President Trump’s escalating talk of seizing the Danish colony of Greenland off Canada’s east coast.
These calls for a China reset come despite relations between the two countries becoming difficult in recent years.
In a debate ahead of April’s election, Mr. Carney was asked to name Canada’s biggest security threat, and he answered, “China.”
Relations between Canada and China fell to a historic low in 2018 after Canada arrested Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on a U.S. warrant in connection with Huawei’s dealings with Iran.
Former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor were arrested days later in China on suspicion of espionage, but Beijing denies retaliation. All three returned to their home countries in 2021.
