Welcome back to This Week in Canada, where the door is open to electric vehicles from China, submarines are an industrial bargaining chip, and Donald Trump is changing a former prime minister’s tune. Let’s jump right into it!
Canada is still talking about Mark Carney’s trip to Beijing last month, where the prime minister showed how Canada is preparing for a world where its economic future can’t rest on the United States alone. Closer ties with China are part of that strategy, even though that might be uncomfortable at times.
The initial moves include allowing the import of a limited number of Chinese-made electric vehicles and the elimination of tariffs on Canadian canola, which will boost one of our most important export industries. It was no surprise that President Donald Trump called the agreement “a disaster” that will “go down as one of the worst deals, of any kind, in history.” His words also showed that the Trump administration now views Canada’s friendlier trade posture toward China as part of America’s broader economic confrontation with Beijing.
