Carney says Canada has ‘no intention’ of pursuing free trade deal with China

CITYnews halifax / By John Marchesan, The Canadian Press

Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada has “no intention” of pursuing a free trade deal with China.

“We have no intention of doing that with China or any other non-market economy,” he told reporters on Sunday in Ottawa. “What we’ve done with China is to rectify some issues that have developed in the last couple of years.”

Carney said that under the continental trade pact, known as CUSMA, Canada cannot pursue free trade agreements with non-market economies — ones driven more by government than market forces — without prior notification.

Carney’s remarks come one day after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose 100 per cent tariffs on Canada if it goes through with a trade deal with China.

Carney did not indicate if he had spoken with Trump since the tariff threat was made on Saturday.

Canada recently committed to reducing its 100 per cent tariff on Chinese-made electric vehicles to 6.1 per cent with an annual cap of 49,000 vehicles.

In turn, China is expected to lower most of its retaliatory tariffs on Canadian agricultural products, including lobster, crab and canola.