Mary Ng, former trade minister of Canada, speaking to CNA at the Indonesia Economic Summit in Jakarta on Feb 3, 2026.

Canada must maintain working-level trade ties with China, says ex-trade minister

United States President Donald Trump recently warned of imposing a 100 per cent tariff on Canadian imports if Ottawa deepens trade engagement with Beijing.

05 Feb 2026, 02:38 by Saifulbahri Ismail · CNA · Join

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JAKARTA: As trade tensions between Canada and the United States intensify, Ottawa is stressing the importance of maintaining working-level ties with China, said former Canadian trade minister Mary Ng.

The relationship between both neighbours must be managed carefully, especially in sectors critical to Canada’s economy, Ng told CNA on Tuesday (Feb 3) on the sidelines of the Indonesia Economic Summit 2026 held in Jakarta.

“The United States is Canada's largest trading partner. Our economies are very integrated - we have industries and supply chains that are very integrated, so this is really important to Canadian businesses and Canadian workers,” she noted.

“At the same time, we are facing down tariffs in some of our key strategic sectors like steel, aluminium, forestry.”

US President Donald Trump recently warned of imposing a 100 per cent tariff on Canadian imports if Ottawa proceeds with deeper trade engagement with Beijing - a move that would drastically raise the cost of Canadian goods entering the American market.

The threat came as part of broader trade disagreements that have unfolded since early last year, when Washington imposed tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminium under national security provisions.

Ottawa responded with its own retaliatory measures, leading to a de facto tariff dispute across multiple sectors.

The dispute has also spilled into other areas of economic cooperation. The US last week threatened a 50 per cent tariff on Canadian-made planes sold in the US unless certain regulatory issues are resolved.

“I would say that right now, in a practical sense, it's really difficult for the sectors that are impacted by the significant tariffs that have been put on by the US,” said Ng, who is Canada’s longest-serving trade minister.

The former politician was Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development from 2018 to 2025.

“We are continuing to have conversations. But at the same time, we still enjoy tariff-free access for a significant part of the economy, so that is good as well,” she added.

IMPORTANCE OF DIVERSIFICATION

Last week, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney that his recent public comments against US trade policy could backfire going into the formal review of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

The trilateral trade pact protects Canada from the heaviest impacts of Trump’s tariffs.

In a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, Carney had urged nations to accept the end of the rules-based global order that Washington had once championed.

When asked how Canada should navigate its relationship with the US in this increasingly sensitive environment, Ng pointed to Carney’s focus on diversification.

“You heard (him) talk about the importance of diversification, to create the conditions that enable Canada to have a strong economy, and that is what he and the government are pursuing - diversification with many of our trading partners,” she said.

She also noted Carney’s recent trip to Beijing aimed at strengthening commercial ties, especially in sectors such as agriculture and seafood that face tariffs in both the US and China.

Last month, Canada and China reached a preliminary trade agreement at the first meeting between the countries’ leaders in Beijing in eight years.

“I support those efforts, because what's really important for the prime minister and the government to do is to ensure that all segments of the Canadian economy are considered supported, looked after,” Ng pointed out.

“It’s really important that we get on a working-level arrangement between Canada and China.”

When asked if deeper trade engagement with China signals a strategic pivot to Beijing, Ng noted “a great power competition” going on around the world.

“Countries like Canada are getting caught in that. We can't control what the big powers do, but what we can do is control what we can and should be doing, which is to make the Canadian economy stronger for our workers and for our industries,” she added.

She pointed to efforts to deepen relationships with multiple partners, from the European Union to Asia through the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), under which Canada has expanded ties with nations like Japan, Singapore and Australia.

Ng also reflected on Canada’s burgeoning partnership with Indonesia.

Canada and Indonesia signed a landmark free trade agreement last year, which is expected to come into force this year.

Ng, who was a central figure in concluding the agreement, credited negotiators on both sides for finding common ground “in record time”.

“Trade agreements take years to negotiate. And we did it in about three years or just a little over three years, which is unheard of,” she said.

“What do I hear from businesses all the time? They want certainty. They want predictability,” she noted.

“I think that they can count on the two governments in this instance to provide those conditions for businesses and investors to do what they do, which is business and investment."

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