In an attempt to repair the harm caused by his nation’s deteriorating ties with the United States, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is taking a plane to Asia on Thursday for a three-nation journey that will begin in India.
Carney’s trip to India represents the most recent attempt to mend bilateral relations, which essentially fell apart when Ottawa accused New Delhi of planning a murderous campaign against Sikh activists on Canadian soil.
The journey, which includes stops in Australia and Japan, is part of a larger initiative to shift Canada’s economy away from an over-reliance on its southern neighbor, according to Carney.
In 2024, before US President Donald Trump returned to office and upended global trade through a flurry of tariffs, more than 75 percent of Canadian exports went to the United States. Two-way trade that year exceeded $900 billion.
US tariffs targeting specific sectors have hurt the Canadian economy over the past year.
But Trump has so far broadly adhered to the North American free trade agreement he signed during his first term and 85 percent of US-Canada trade remains tariff-free.
However, the US president has stated that he may revoke that agreement, claiming it is “irrelevant” and offers “no real advantage” to the US.
Carney has made increasing trade with Europe and Asia a key component of his plan to support Canada’s economy in the event that free trade with Washington falters.
Drew Fagan, a public policy professor at the University of Toronto, stated that Carney was smart to explore other markets and advocated for a strategy that aims to do “more elsewhere, when there’s an opportunity.”
By 2030, the prime minister hopes to have more than doubled two-way commerce with India, with a target of Can$70 billion ($51 billion).
Fagan cautioned that progress with countries like India cannot mitigate the damage of a US rupture.
“It’s not a solution. It’s not a replacement and it never will be,” Fagan told AFP.
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