After visiting China and returning home, the Canadian Foreign Minister really fulfilled his promise and initiated a tariff reduction process for some goods to China.
And is this a substantial breakthrough in the recovery of bilateral relations, or is it an expedient measure for Canada after weighing the advantages and disadvantages in the game of great powers?
Canadian Foreign Minister Anand visits China and meets with Foreign Minister Wang Yi
Looking back at the development of China-Canada relations, since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, economic and trade cooperation has maintained a steady growth trend for a long time.
From the early wheat agreements to today’s comprehensive trade partnerships, China has been Canada’s second-largest trading partner for years.
However, in recent years, under the geopolitical influence, Canada has followed the United States to impose discriminatory tariffs on China's electric vehicles, steel and aluminum products, directly triggering Chinese counter-conflict, leading to heavy damage to Canada's advantageous industrial exports such as oil and vegetable seeds and water products, and bilateral relations fall into a low valley.
The implementation of this tariff reduction is first and foremost a concrete action by Canada to fulfill its commitment to visit China.
Just a few days ago, Canadian Foreign Minister Anand arrived in Beijing and made it clear in his talks with Foreign Minister Wang Yi that he attaches great importance to cooperation with China and is committed to re-correcting China-China relations.
Canadian rapeseed
As an important achievement of its Asian trip, the rapid introduction of tariff reduction and exemption policy marks the beginning of the Carney government's strategic intention of "repairing China-Canada relations".
From the perspective of the game of great powers, Canada's policy adjustment is the inevitable choice of its strategic balance between China and the United States and Europe.
As a traditional ally of the United States, Canada has long relied on the United States for economy and security, but the Trump administration's trade protectionist policy has made it deeply aware of the risks of "single-line dependence".
Prime Minister Carney has repeatedly stressed that over-reliance on the United States is "extremely dangerous" and Canada needs to expand diversified cooperation into Europe and Asia.
Anand's trip to Asia this time visits not only China, but also India and Singapore, which is an important layout for his positioning as a "reliable cooperative partner in the Indo-Pacific region."
Canadian Foreign Minister visits India to meet Modi
In the context of increased competition between China and the United States, Canada is trying to safeguard its economic interests as much as possible through selective cooperation without angering the United States.
However, there are still obvious limitations to Canada’s tariff relief: this adjustment is not about removing discriminatory measures altogether, but about applying for enterprises, demonstrating the prudence and temporary nature of its policies.
This limited compromise is rooted in Canada's structural security dependence on the United States and concerns that excessive adjustment of relations with China will lead to retaliation from the Trump administration.
From this perspective, the Carney government's policy towards China still has strong value biases, the position in the core sensitive fields has not changed fundamentally, and the current relationship loosening is still in the probative stage.
US President Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Carney
In the face of Canada's initiative to show goodwill, China's attitude has always been clear and firm.
My ambassador has long said that if Canada can correct its wrong practices, China's countermeasures will be adjusted accordingly.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi also stressed in the talks that improving China-China relations requires both sides to adhere to the principle of mutual respect, adhere to the one-China principle, eliminate interference and rebuild mutual trust.
This year coincides with the 55th anniversary of the establishment of China-Ghazian trade, and for Canada, if this opportunity is seized, the transition of the temporary tariff relief into a long-term policy adjustment, the complete abolition of all discriminatory measures, will undoubtedly inject new momentum into bilateral trade.
China is always willing to restart dialogue and exchanges at all levels with Canada on the basis of mutual respect to push relations into a healthy development track as soon as possible.
Added Relationship
Through this, Canada’s experience has also provided clues to other Western countries.
In the prevailing moment of unilateralism, politicizing and idealizing trade issues will only harm our own interests, abandoning the zero-sum thinking and adhering to mutual benefit and win-win, is the right way to live together between countries.
All in all, Canada's tariff reductions are a positive signal of easing China-Canada relations, but there is still a long way to go before bilateral trade is fully back on track.
The ultimate outcome of this interaction will depend on whether Canada can break through its dependence on the United States and bring out true strategic sincerity.
Global shipping trade
As far as Canada is concerned, only by completely abandoning the vacillating balancing technique and treating its relations with China with a pragmatic attitude can it truly seize the opportunities of the Chinese market and open up a broader space for its own development.