Canada energy minister heads to India 'to protect and empower Canadian economy' amid tiff with Trump

Amid an economic tiff with the United States, Canada’s Foreign Minister Anita Anand said that the country won’t derail its efforts to diversify trade to other nations. The remarks came just days after US President Donald Trump took a swipe at Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on social media, warning that he would place a 100 per cent tariff on all Canadian goods if Canada becomes a “drop off port” for Chinese exports to the US.

Trump’s remarks came after China and Canada signed an agreement, which would see Ottawa reduce tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) in return for trade concessions on food, including canola and beef. Anand on Sunday clarified that while Canada is not negotiating a free trade deal with China, it has no choice but to forge ahead with its strategy to double its non-US exports within 10 years.

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“We need to protect and empower the Canadian economy, and trade diversification is fundamental to that,” Anand said. “That is why we went to China, that’s why we will be going to India, and that is why we won’t put all our eggs in one basket.”

Canada looks at India

Keeping this strategy in mind, Canada’s Energy Minister Tim Hodgson is heading to Goa, where he will attend an energy conference and meet with officials from the Indian industry and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.

During the visit, the two sides are expected to discuss cooperation and potential deals on critical minerals, uranium, and liquefied natural gas, Bloomberg reported. It is pertinent to note that Canada has an abundance of those resources. Meanwhile, Carney is also planning to visit India soon and will be heading to Australia in March.

While speaking to the reporters, Anand noted that Canada and the US still have a strong relationship and she expects that will continue. One can not deny the fact that it is still one of the world’s largest bilateral trade relationships, despite ongoing tensions over tariffs.

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“We have a highly integrated market with Canada,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday. “The goods can cross the border during the manufacturing process six times. And we can’t let Canada become an opening that the Chinese pour their cheap goods into the US.” Hence, Ottawa is aware of the fact that a fractured North American relationship contains vastly more economic risk for Canada, as a much smaller and less diversified economy.