She also noted Carney’s recent trip to Beijing aimed at strengthening commercial ties, especially in sectors such as agriculture and seafood that face tariffs in both the US and China.
Last month, Canada and China reached a preliminary trade agreement at the first meeting between the countries’ leaders in Beijing in eight years.
“I support those efforts, because what’s really important for the prime minister and the government to do is to ensure that all segments of the Canadian economy are considered supported, looked after,” Ng pointed out.
“It’s really important that we get on a working-level arrangement between Canada and China.”
When asked if deeper trade engagement with China signals a strategic pivot to Beijing, Ng noted “a great power competition” going on around the world.
“Countries like Canada are getting caught in that. We can’t control what the big powers do, but what we can do is control what we can and should be doing, which is to make the Canadian economy stronger for our workers and for our industries,” she added.
She pointed to efforts to deepen relationships with multiple partners, from the European Union to Asia through the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), under which Canada has expanded ties with nations like Japan, Singapore and Australia.
Ng also reflected on Canada’s burgeoning partnership with Indonesia.
Canada and Indonesia signed a landmark free trade agreement last year, which is expected to come into force this year.
Ng, who was a central figure in concluding the agreement, credited negotiators on both sides for finding common ground “in record time”.
“Trade agreements take years to negotiate. And we did it in about three years or just a little over three years, which is unheard of,” she said.
“What do I hear from businesses all the time? They want certainty. They want predictability,” she noted.
“I think that they can count on the two governments in this instance to provide those conditions for businesses and investors to do what they do, which is business and investment.”
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/canada-china-mary-ng-trade-working-level-ties-tariff-tensions-usa-5908631
