00:00And you had a meeting where Foreign Minister Wang Yi was in the room as well.
00:04When it comes to Canada's ties with China, it's been stabilizing.
00:08But would you be open to more Chinese investments in sectors like the EV supply chain or critical minerals?
00:15So we have resolved certain trade tensions with China.
00:21And we did that earlier this year when Prime Minister Carney met President Xi in Beijing.
00:28What that allowed was more canola leaving Canada for China
00:36and more beef and seafood products from Canada being imported into China.
00:46The work that we're doing on other sectors, including auto, is very constrained
00:54in the sense that we put a specific ceiling on the number of EVs
01:00that would be coming from China to Canada at about 49,000.
01:05So that is a very tightly structured agreement between Canada and China to resolve trade tensions.
01:15Our relationship with China, though, is broader than that set of issues that I just described.
01:24We are certainly elevating our relationship to a strategic partnership.
01:29We are cooperating in certain areas.
01:33For example, in the area of energy cooperation, in the area of people-to-people ties
01:42and ensuring that the populations of our countries can develop and travel and see each other more frequently.
01:53Those are the types of other topics that are also on the agenda.
01:57So would you welcome more Chinese investments or is national security going to take precedence?
02:01Well, we will always take the steps necessary to protect and defend Canada's national security.
02:08We are very clear about that.
02:12And so our relationship with China, like with other countries, is nuanced.
02:17We are going to always stand up for Canadian interests in the area of security,
02:25in the area of domestic protection of our populations and our democracy,
02:30standing against transnational crime, as well as making sure that our economy grows
02:37and we double non-U.S. trade over the next 10 years.
02:41So, again, it's a nuanced relationship and we must appreciate the complexities involved.
02:48Speaking of diversifying your trade from the U.S. and doubling non-U.S. trade,
02:53you have traveled to so many countries of late, right, to Brazil, to Pakistan.
02:58Which overseas markets are going to be most important for Canada as you diversify from the U.S.?
03:05Well, perhaps I could just take it back to the approach that we have in place under Prime Minister Carney,
03:12and that is ensuring that we do diversify our trade relationships.
03:16And we've signed over 20 security and defense partnerships over the past year across five continents.
03:25And that includes economic agreements also.
03:29And so this is the strategy that we're pursuing, making sure that we are diversifying our trade
03:38and we're building relationships with other middle powers.
03:42The importance of doing so is not only to collaborate internationally, but also to grow the domestic economy.
03:51We have in place plans to grow that domestic economy by a trillion dollars.
03:58And that includes ensuring that we have these partnerships all over the world.
04:03So when you talk about my travel, it is all in furtherance of the diversified trade agenda
04:10and diversified defense and security agenda that we are pursuing as a country.
04:15Some countries that I travel to indicate that they have to see Canadian presence even more.
04:25And so I was the first Canadian foreign minister to visit Pakistan in 19 years.
04:30I have traveled to the Gulf region at least four times in the past six months.
04:37And certainly that includes Oman and Bahrain and KSA and Qatar, other countries, Turkey, Brazil.
04:46Why are we pursuing this strategy?
04:50Well, we are doubling non-U.S. trade over the next 10 years.
04:52But we also want to make sure that we have a very stable and distinct sovereign approach to our economic
05:05future.
05:05And that means diversifying trade.
05:08I suppose this is partly to shield from the impact of U.S. tariffs as well.
05:12And speaking of that, there is an additional 50 percent tariffs from the U.S. hitting Canadian goods in 30
05:18days' time.
05:19During this 30-day period, is Canada willing to look at offering concessions to the U.S. in exchange for
05:26lower tariffs?
05:27So let's just remember that Canada and the United States have been close trading partners for decades and decades.
05:38We are bound together by geography.
05:41The prime minister spoke with the president yesterday, and they agreed to intensify talks relating to trade.
05:50And that will be undertaken by our minister for Canada, U.S. trade and our chief trade negotiator.
05:56At the same time, we have to remember we can do multiple things at the same time.
06:04And therefore, pursuing this diversified trade agenda, making sure that we have these free trade agreements with other countries, such
06:14as the Philippines.
06:15We're negotiating a comprehensive economic partnership agreement with India right now.
06:20We signed a free trade agreement with Indonesia in late 2025.
06:24Those are just examples of the way we'll diversify while those trade talks with the United States are ongoing.
06:33Right now, we are the only G7 country that has a free trade agreement with every other G7 country.
06:40That's the foundation of our trade diversification policy.
06:45But we are going a step further with those over 20 agreements in security, defense and economic matters with free
06:54trade negotiations that are occurring now.
06:56One of the big concerns here is the inflation that is brought about by the Iran war.
07:01And I wonder, as an energy exporter, as Canada is an energy exporter, is your energy sales to Asia increasing
07:10after the Iran war?
07:11It's a good point to highlight Canada's competitive advantage in the area of energy, whether it's LNG from our West
07:21Coast, whether it is clean or conventional, whether it is nuclear or solar or wind power.
07:28Canada is a leader.
07:30We will be the only G7 country working on the SMR technology, for example, out of Darlington, Ontario.
07:39All of that to say that energy figures quite prominently in both our bilateral and our multilateral conversations.
07:48And around the table this morning, I heard significant interest from ASEAN countries about ensuring that there's energy cooperation and
07:56climate change.
Comments