Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.
Speaker 2: Joining us now is Mary Young, Canadian Minister of Export Promotion,
Speaker 2: International Trade and Economic Development. Minister.
Speaker 1: Good to have you with us always you day, You're
Speaker 1: always good to talk to you and new day and
Speaker 1: new term.
Speaker 2: This time it includes lumber. How are you looking at
Speaker 2: the expanding list of tariffs.
Speaker 3: Well, when the executive order first came into Canada very recently,
Speaker 3: it included twenty five percent across the board on everything,
Speaker 3: including well everything, and then ten percent on energy. What
Speaker 3: we're pleased about is to be able to work with
Speaker 3: the American administration to get a thirty.
Speaker 1: Day pause on that.
Speaker 3: And while at the same time working with the American administration,
Speaker 3: we've been very clear terriffs are expensive for America. They
Speaker 3: make no sense when seventy percent of what I export
Speaker 3: in the United States, the United States takes adds value
Speaker 3: to it and then helps them be more competitive with
Speaker 3: their products. Adding a tariff just simply makes it more
Speaker 3: expensive for Americans. Adding teriffs to Canadian exports simply means
Speaker 3: that it's going to cost Americans more at the grocery store.
Speaker 3: It's going to cost Americans more at the pumps. So
Speaker 3: it makes no sense. We will continue to reiterate that message.
Speaker 3: We've been very clear. We don't want to be here,
Speaker 3: we don't want to initiate anything, but should there be
Speaker 3: punishing tariffs on Canadian on Canada, we will respond accordingly.
Speaker 3: But in the meantime, we are having conversations with the Americans,
Speaker 3: as we do when you have a trading partner like
Speaker 3: the one between Canada and the United States, where Canada
Speaker 3: it's our largest trading partner, but we're pretty important to
Speaker 3: the Americans as well. When I count thirty six American
Speaker 3: states as my top customers, I sell more to them,
Speaker 3: to those thirty six states than China, ben Japan, than
Speaker 3: the United Kingdom and friends combined.
Speaker 1: So we need to work on this together. That thirty
Speaker 1: day pores.
Speaker 2: You're in talks right now. How confident are you that
Speaker 2: can be extended, that will be extended.
Speaker 3: We are working very hard on that myself, the Prime Minister,
Speaker 3: my cabinet colleagues. This is a really intentional effort to
Speaker 3: work with the administration. One of the things that the
Speaker 3: American that the American administration, including the President, have raised
Speaker 3: concerns about, is how we can collaborate and do more
Speaker 3: on boarder to make sure that at the border we
Speaker 3: are indeed working more together. Despite Canada only having less
Speaker 3: than one percent of fentannel going into the American Into America,
Speaker 3: it too is just as a concern for Canadians. So
Speaker 3: collaborating together to make sure that we are doing more
Speaker 3: on our border is what we are doing. And we're
Speaker 3: confident that that work is not only making progress, but
Speaker 3: that we're doing that with the Americans. And this is
Speaker 3: the testament of the Canadian American relationship as well, the
Speaker 3: ability to talk through and work through what are sometimes
Speaker 3: really tough issues. So we're committed to doing that on
Speaker 3: our end.
Speaker 2: You talked about how Canada exports more to the US
Speaker 2: than any other country. We're talking about almost eighty percent
Speaker 2: of your exports going to the US despite a trade
Speaker 2: agreement with the likes of the EU. Why has it
Speaker 2: been so difficult for Canada to diversifies trade.
Speaker 3: Well, I always say, as the Trade Minister, negotiating trade
Speaker 3: agreements are about it's like building a bridge.
Speaker 1: But what you want is you need.
Speaker 3: Your businesses to walk across that bridge. And I think
Speaker 3: businesses really are reflecting on the importance of diversification. I
Speaker 3: think that the meaning of diversification has a more greater significance.
Speaker 1: It's why I'm here in Singapore.
Speaker 3: I just led a trade mission to Australia, some two
Speaker 3: hundred over two hundred Canadians that are here looking to
Speaker 3: pursue opportunities in this market. Here in the Indo Pacific
Speaker 3: and in Singapore. Who's a partner in the CPTPP. We
Speaker 3: have been doing business and have seen our trade increase
Speaker 3: by over twenty percent since it's coming in force into
Speaker 3: twenty eighteen.
Speaker 1: I've taken hundreds and hundreds.
Speaker 3: Of businesses on trade missions, whether it is here in
Speaker 3: Singapore or to Japan, or to Korea, or to Malaysia,
Speaker 3: to Indonesia. We just wrapped up a free trade agreement
Speaker 3: with Indonesia. But I think that what the Canadian government
Speaker 3: has been doing is really building out that deliberate infrastructure
Speaker 3: to help Canadian companies look at markets like these ones.
Speaker 3: This is a really important place for Canada. We launched
Speaker 3: our Indo Pacific Strategy at the end of twenty twenty two,
Speaker 3: back by two point three billion dollar investment over five
Speaker 3: years to do exactly that, grow our businesses, create those partnerships.
Speaker 3: Yesterday here in Singapore. I announced seven point three billion
Speaker 3: dollars to build a Canadian trade gateway for nuclear energy.
Speaker 3: This is really important because in the region, in all
Speaker 3: of these discussions I've had with partners, energy security is
Speaker 3: an issue. These economies are growing and they want to
Speaker 3: be able to grow with reliable energy in order to
Speaker 3: grow their businesses, to power their cities and their communities.
Speaker 3: So we want to be a part of that solution.
Speaker 3: So these are the kinds of things that we're doing
Speaker 3: as a government, but we're doing it in partnership with
Speaker 3: businesses that I would say, and I keep saying to businesses,
Speaker 3: you've got to.
Speaker 1: Show up, You've got to be here. Do these do these.
Speaker 3: Transactions because they actually will be great for our trading
Speaker 3: partners as well as for US.
Speaker 2: Minister. We keep getting headlines from Trump, and just today
Speaker 2: we heard from how he is willing to perhaps rethink
Speaker 2: that trade deal with China. He says it is a
Speaker 2: possibility for a new trade agreement with China. It does
Speaker 2: seem he's approaching China in a very conciliatory way. Instead
Speaker 2: of sixty percent terrors, is ten percent terrors. Whereas when
Speaker 2: it comes to a trading partner like Canada, he was
Speaker 2: willing to go full force with twenty five percent. Is
Speaker 2: there a hands a sense perhaps that Trump is trading
Speaker 2: China in a better way than he is trading Canada.
Speaker 3: Well, I can't speak for the president for President Trump,
Speaker 3: but what I would say for Canada is that you know, Canada,
Speaker 3: you know, has everything it needs to be successful in
Speaker 3: today's global economy and into the future. The United States
Speaker 3: is our largest trading partner. We will continue to work
Speaker 3: with the United States because it's.
Speaker 1: Good for Americans.
Speaker 3: I mean, millions and millions of jobs are dependent on
Speaker 3: America's trade with Canada. The inputs that we send to
Speaker 3: the United States actually create and have built these resilient
Speaker 3: supply chains that are good, you know, that are good
Speaker 3: for businesses, that are good for communities.
Speaker 1: I think what we need to keep doing is to
Speaker 1: do this work.
Speaker 3: But Canada also has, through its current trade networks, access
Speaker 3: to sixty five percent of the world's economy through trade
Speaker 3: agreements like with the European Union here through the CPTPP
Speaker 3: with countries like Singapore and Malaysia and Australia and New
Speaker 3: Zealand and Vietnam and so forth. But also a math
Speaker 3: the negotiating table with as Yen as a block. I've
Speaker 3: just concluded agreement, an agreement with Indonesia, really excellent trade
Speaker 3: agreement there, launched exploratory dialogues with Philippines.
Speaker 1: So I think the work.
Speaker 3: We need to do and we need to keep doing,
Speaker 3: is make sure that we continue to strengthen North America
Speaker 3: on the one hand, but also pursue these opportunities. And
Speaker 3: in candad that I often say to people, we are
Speaker 3: the best traders because around the world, because we come
Speaker 3: from around the world. So these deep people to people ties,
Speaker 3: I think is also an advantage.
Speaker 2: Is there a need for you to have a new
Speaker 2: trade strategy under the Trump administration? I mean concession stone work.
Speaker 2: We saw that with India and Ted for Ted is
Speaker 2: not working either. Is there a way of relooking at
Speaker 2: your trade strategy?
Speaker 3: Well, I let's remember that the agreement we have today
Speaker 3: with the United States, which we renegotiated with the United States,
Speaker 3: was actually done by President Trump, and he touted this
Speaker 3: to be an excellent agreement. It took us time to
Speaker 3: do that, and there were issues that we had to
Speaker 3: work through.
Speaker 1: But we did work through them.
Speaker 3: We negotiated across the table and in President Trump's trade
Speaker 3: memoranda that he issued to the Commerce Secretary and to
Speaker 3: the USDR was to take a look at the range
Speaker 3: of trade agreements you know, that the United States has
Speaker 3: with the world, including in Canada, and including the work
Speaker 3: that we are the work that is done between Canada,
Speaker 3: US and Mexico. I'm looking forward to, you know, to
Speaker 3: understanding what that analysis will you know, will will come
Speaker 3: forward with. But ultimately, I think that at the end
Speaker 3: of the day, it's about finding the win and the
Speaker 3: win and the synergies that make America straw, the synergies
Speaker 3: that make Canada straw, the synergies that make North America strong,
Speaker 3: and and I think that's the uh, we that's the
Speaker 3: approach we've taken. We're gonna have to, you know, do that,
Speaker 3: take that approach and then adapt as we need.
Speaker 2: Mind, the wind come from a multi level response instead
Speaker 2: of Canada just responding on its own. Should that be uh,
Speaker 2: you know, a global response, let by perhaps Canada asially
Speaker 2: even Europe. Should that be a multi level approach to
Speaker 2: responding to Trump's terraces.
Speaker 3: Well, I've certainly, you know, been talking to my colleagues
Speaker 3: around the globe, particularly those who we have trade agreements
Speaker 3: with and those partners who who really stand up for
Speaker 3: the rules based trading system. I was in Europe just
Speaker 3: a little over. I'm losing track of time. I think
Speaker 3: it's a little over a week or maybe two weeks ago.
Speaker 3: I was at the World Trade Organization. I'm here, of course,
Speaker 3: in Singapore, our CPTPP partner. I was just in Australia
Speaker 3: and I'm on my way to Brunei. And I think
Speaker 3: the one thing that is consistent with all of us
Speaker 3: because in response to our businesses and the investors, they
Speaker 3: are looking for governments and for those of us who
Speaker 3: have negotiated these agreements to provide and the predictability that
Speaker 3: they need. So everyone agrees that standing up for a
Speaker 3: rules based international order, particularly around trade, is something that
Speaker 3: we are going to need to work on together. Each
Speaker 3: country will do what they will do with respect to
Speaker 3: unique responses, but I do think that there is agreement
Speaker 3: that the rules based international order, particularly around rules based trade,
Speaker 3: is something that we must stand up for and continue
Speaker 3: to work very hard at defending with.
Speaker 2: TRUM reshaping the Global Trade Book. I'm just wondering, from
Speaker 2: Canada's perspective, is China now a more important trading partner.
Speaker 2: Is India now a more important trading pot.
Speaker 3: Well, our Indo Pacific strategy had set out and this
Speaker 3: is now well over. You know, at the end of
Speaker 3: twenty twenty two, we set out a strategy that envisagedes
Speaker 3: the importance of this region in particular, that also includes
Speaker 3: how Canada would work with China, and there you know,
Speaker 3: we refer to it in the.
Speaker 1: Strategies the Four Seas.
Speaker 3: There will be opportunities where we should absolutely be collaborating together.
Speaker 3: You think about climate change and how we can build
Speaker 3: out solutions, including economic solutions that actually will fight climate change.
Speaker 3: There will be issues where we're going to have to
Speaker 3: challenge China because the values that are important to Canadians
Speaker 3: are such that we need to do that. We can
Speaker 3: also compete, I mean, take a look at AI, take
Speaker 3: a look at what Canada is doing in the critical
Speaker 3: mineral space, take a look at what Canada is doing
Speaker 3: around the battery ecosystem with respect to batteries around for
Speaker 3: electric vehicles, and how we're attracting investments from around the
Speaker 3: globe to do this in Canada. So we can certainly compete,
Speaker 3: and then we need to co exists. So the approach
Speaker 3: that we have taken in the Inno Pacific strategy I
Speaker 3: think still holds today.
Speaker 2: All Right, Menissa, thank you so much for joining us.
Speaker 2: Perfect day to have you on the show. Mary and
Speaker 2: Canadian Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development,