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Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne is visiting China this week, a trip his office said will build on Prime Minister Mark Carney’s visit to Canada’s second-largest trading partner earlier this year.
Champagne is visiting China from Tuesday until Saturday, his office said in a news release. He will meet with government and business leaders in a bid to attract new investments and build partnerships, the release said.
Carney’s trip to China in January, which included a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, was the first by a Canadian prime minister in nearly a decade.
It resulted in reduced Chinese tariffs on canola seed in exchange for Canada letting 49,000 Chinese EVs into Canada at a reduced 6.1 per cent tariff rate. It also resulted in the suspension of tariffs on canola meal, peas, lobster and crab.
The two leaders set a new target of increasing Canadian exports to China by 50 per cent in the next five years. However, other Chinese tariffs on Canadian goods, such as pork, remain in place.
Carney said Monday that Champagne is going to further the “regular dialogue around a series of economic and financial issues” that were part of discussions when the prime minister visited.
The Carney government has sought to diversity Canadian trade partners amid uncertainty about the Canada-U.S. trade relationship and U.S. President Donald Trump’s ongoing tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminum, lumber and autos.
After Carney’s trip in January, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened a 100 per cent tariff on all Canadian goods entering the U.S. if Canada “makes a deal with China.” But he did not specify in his social media post what he meant by a “deal.”
Carney then said Canada has “no intention” of pursuing a free trade agreement with China.
Negotiations on renewing the Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade agreement, or CUSMA, began earlier this month.
Forced labour will be part of discussions: PM
Champagne’s trip also comes as the Liberals face questions about one of their MPs casting doubt on the use of forced labour in China
During a committee hearing last week, MP Michael Ma asked a series of questions of expert witness Margaret McCuaig-Johnston that appeared to seek to question her credibility and undermine allegations of human rights violations in China.
Ma, who crossed the floor from the Conservatives in December, asked whether McCuaig-Johnston had personally witnessed forced labour in Shenzhen, and whether she’d gotten word of it from “hearsay.” He later apologized.
On Monday, Carney said Canada “has the most rigorous set of engagements on the issue” and said he believes the issue of forced labour will be part of conversations Champagne has while in China.
“Issues of supply chain integrity, including forced labour and child labour and ensuring that those standards are in place will be part of those discussions, I’m certain,” he said.
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne was asked on Monday if he would raise the issue of forced labour — specifically regarding Canadian-bound Chinese EVs and parts — while visiting China this week to meet with government and business leaders. ‘The integrity of our supply chain is always something that we bring up in our discussions,’ Champagne said.
Champagne later suggested that he will indeed bring it up in conversations he has on his trip.
“The integrity of our supply chain is always something that we bring up in our discussions,” he said.
“We condemn forced labour in all its forms everywhere in the world … Canada has always been at the forefront of having very stringent labour standards in our trade agreements.”