Canada wants to deepen its economic ties with the EU and uphold global trading rules in the face of threatened U.S. tariffs, its trade minister Mary Ng told Reuters on Saturday. The EU and Canada have benefited from a free trade agreement since 2017, which has boosted bilateral trade by 65%, and set up a raw materials partnership in 2021.
Ng met EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic for a lunch on Saturday following a meeting with Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the director general of the World Trade Organization in Geneva on Friday. "Trade agreements are one thing, and we have seen really great numbers, but what more can we be doing to help Canadian businesses enter into any of the 27 member states...and what more can we do to the same in Canada" Ng said.
She said critical minerals and smaller businesses would be among the focus areas with the EU. The EU, in particular, is keen to forge partnerships to secure metals that are key for the energy transition - cobalt, lithium and nickel - to reduce its dependence on China. Canada is also pushing to diversify its exports and set itself a target in 2018 of increasing non-U.S. exports by 50% by 2025. Ng said the country was on track to meet or exceed the target.
Canada seeks stronger EU trade ties in face of Trump tariffs | Reuters
Who could have seen this coming /s.
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