Canada seeks pact with South-east Asian countries to diversify trade
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Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand said her country intends to continue a mutilateral trade relationship with the 10-member Asean.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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KUALA LUMPUR - Canada is seeking to finalise a free trade deal with South-east Asian nations as part of a push to expand into new markets, its top diplomat said, responding to the hefty tariffs imposed on it by the United States, its neighbour and largest trade partner.
Foreign Minister Anita Anand said Canada intends to continue a mutilateral trade relationship with the 10-member Asean. Canada believes the global economy will be driven by the Indo-Pacific region in the years ahead, she added.
“The work is being done with alacrity to finalise the text of the free trade agreement (FTA),” Ms Anand told Reuters in an interview, following her meeting with counterparts from the Asean bloc in the Malaysian capital.
“It is complex but we are very much looking forward to it being completed as soon as possible,” she said, without providing further details.
Ms Anand said the Asean-Canada FTA is one of the ways Canada can diversify its trade relations beyond the Group of Seven nations.
Beyond trade, Canada will also work with Asean on energy, food security,the digital economy and artificial intelligence, she added.
Canadian companies are boosting trade with allies other than the US, and with smaller markets, as they try to minimise the economic damage from US President Donald Trump’s tariffs, government data has shown.
Canada, the top supplier of steel and aluminium to the US, faces tariffs imposed by Mr Trump on both metals and on auto exports.
The government is hoping to reach a trade deal with Washington by July 21 and could impose counter-duties on the US if no agreement is reached.
Ms Anand declined to comment on how the talks are progressing, but said Canada was looking forward to a constructive deal with the US.
“Our trade negotiators... are engaged in the complex trade negotiations to ensure that Canada’s interests are put forward in the best possible way,” she said.
