BEIJING — With relations with the United States at their worst point in modern history, Canada is turning its attention to China, one of the only countries with which relations have deteriorated further.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said Friday that Canada is forging a “new strategic partnership” with China, its second-largest trading partner, during what he called a “historic” visit to Beijing. This includes canceling Canada and China’s agreement with the United States on tariffs that have hurt both their economies.
Prime Minister Carney visited China for the first time since 2017 and met with President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People. He is among a string of world leaders visiting Beijing, shaken by the geopolitical turmoil of President Donald Trump, who is seeking to exploit America’s unpredictability to strengthen its global influence.
For Canada, the Trump administration is particularly dizzying.
“The United States was once a friend and an ally,” Guy Saint-Jacques, a former Canadian ambassador to China, said in an interview with NBC News. Now “we are treated as enemies.”
tariff reduction
Carney’s visit comes after years of icy relations over the long-term detention of two Canadians who are considered hostages by the Chinese government and allegations of Chinese interference in Canadian politics.
Those tensions have slowed investment and made Canada “more dependent on our largest trading partner,” Carney said, referring to the United States, which is now the target of Canada’s extraordinary anger and boycott after a year of insults and threats by Trump.
Carney said Canada has agreed to reduce tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles by 100 per cent in exchange for lower tariffs on Canadian agricultural products, as part of an effort to “recalibrate” the relationship.
This is a big change for Canada, a major auto producer that followed the United States in imposing 100% tariffs in 2024.
Secretary Carney said Canadians can also travel to China without a visa.
Xi told Carney during Friday’s meeting that China was ready to strengthen cooperation “to jointly address global challenges.”
Carney, who called China his country’s greatest security threat during his presidential campaign last year, said Friday that the global security landscape “continues to change.”
“We face many threats in a more dangerous and divided world,” he said.
Carney said Canada’s relationship with the United States has become deeper and broader, while its relationship with China has become “more predictable.”
“Tough place” for Canada
Lynette Ong, a professor of Chinese politics at the University of Toronto, said relations between Canada and China went into a “deep freeze” after China arrested two former Canadian diplomats, Michael Kovrig and entrepreneur Michael Spavor, in 2018.
Their detention comes days after Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou, an executive at Chinese tech giant Huawei, at the request of U.S. officials seeking her extradition on fraud charges. Kovrig and Spavor, who were accused of spying, were detained in China for almost three years before being released in 2021, hours after Meng reached an agreement with the Justice Department.
“Even after the two Michaels were released, people showed no goodwill toward China,” Ong said.
Trump returned to the White House in January of last year.
Within days, he began talking about imposing 25% tariffs on most Canadian goods and making Canada, a country of 40 million people, the 51st state of the United States.
Trade negotiations between the United States and Canada have been on hold since they were called off in October amid President Trump’s anger over anti-tariff ads produced by the Ontario government.
Canadian public opinion toward China is becoming more positive, even as favorability ratings for the United States have plummeted, according to a Pew Research Center poll. Last year, 34% of Canadian survey respondents had a favorable impression of China, up from 21% in 2024, before Trump took office.
The same percentage of respondents had a favorable opinion of the United States, down from 54%.
The same pattern is seen in many countries around the world, but in Canada, “the reversal is particularly pronounced,” Ong says.
Canadian officials have said they aim to expand trade outside the United States by at least 50% over the next 10 years.
“Further trade engagement with China should be seen first and foremost as diversification away from the United States,” Ong said.
About 75 per cent of Canada’s manufactured goods exports go to the United States, according to government statistics. China is the second largest market at approximately 4%.
Canada is aiming to increase exports to a number of countries, including India, with which Prime Minister John Carney has also sought to ease strained relations, but China is a top priority, with imports of Canadian goods down more than 10 per cent last year, according to Chinese customs data released Wednesday.
The two countries took a major step forward in October when they held a summit on the sidelines of a regional summit in South Korea, and Mr. Xi invited Mr. Carney to Beijing.
The speed of Carney’s visit to China “reflects a sense of urgency,” said Saint-Jacques, the former ambassador. “He knows Canada is in a tough spot.”
He said Carney’s position could be strengthened by showing the United States that Canada has other options when it comes to exports, as the United States, Canada and Mexico begin a “joint review” of the free trade agreement known as USMCA. President Trump this week dismissed the deal, which he praised when announcing his first term, as “irrelevant.”
At the same time, “Canadians also know that China is a very difficult partner,” Saint-Jacques said. “We know very well how they violate international rules.”
Saint-Jacques said that during his meeting with Xi, Carney will discuss relations between China and North Korea and, in addition to expressing support for the island of Taiwan, which is claimed by Beijing, “emphasize the need to pressure President Putin to accept a ceasefire in the war in Ukraine.”
Like the United States, Canada has no official relations with Taiwan, an autonomous democracy, but supports the island in the face of Chinese pressure.
Mr Carney said on Friday he had raised human rights issues such as last month’s conviction of Hong Kong democracy activist Jimmy Lai.
But, he added, “we accept the world as it is, not as we would like it to be.”
Janice Mackey Freyer reported from Beijing and Jennifer Jett from Hong Kong.
