Carney to meet with premiers today after China-Canada trade deal

Q&A: Carney takes questions on red china merchandise sell, EVs and certificate

Ford says EV deal with China 'is going to be terrible' for Ontarians, auto sector

Sask. Premier and producers react to the new trade agreement with China

Canada reaches tariff deal with China on EVs, canola

Canada's relationship with China 'more predictable' than relationship with U.S., PM says

The Breakdown | Carney talks trade in China

Carney meets Xi Jinping, hails progress in resetting trade with China

At Issue | Does Carney’s China reset come with risks?

‘A new era of our relationship:’ Carney, ministers meet with China’s premier in Beijing

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre took to social media to blast the deal, saying that Carney has flip-flopped on his stance towards China.

"Prime Minister Carney must explain how he has gone from saying China was Canada's 'biggest security threat' before the election to announcing a 'strategic partnership' with Beijing after the election," Poilievre wrote.

"His agreement will allow 50,000 EVs onto our streets jeopardizing our security and auto jobs. This follows him breaking his promise to 'negotiate a win' and get a deal with the U.S. By last July."

Addressing the dropped tariffs on canola, peas and seafood, Poilievre said there's no guarantee that the arrangement is permanent and criticized a lack of movement on pork tariffs.

Ford says EV deal with China 'is going to be terrible' for Ontarians, auto sector

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he did not hear from Prime Minister Mark Carney about the electric vehicle arrangement with China before it was announced, adding 'this was not thought out properly.'

Domestically, we're already seeing mixed reactions to the deal. One of the most outspoken critics is Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who said the deal "wasn't thought out properly" and will "hurt every single auto manufacturer."

Meanwhile, NDP interim Leader Don Davies called the agreement a "step forward" on social media platform X. "NDP will continue to press for Chinese EVs to be built in Canada — access to our auto market should create Canadian jobs," he wrote.

Industry leaders in Saskatchewan and Atlantic Canada also welcomed the deal for its (albeit temporary) tariff relief on things like canola and lobster.

The mixed reactions are a reminder that in a country as large and diverse as Canada, it's hard to please everyone, according to Western University political science professor Laura Stephenson.

"I'm really glad I'm not a politician because it's hard," Stephenson said. "The country is diverse. And when it comes to trade and industry, we are especially diverse."

According to Stephenson, Carney's decision to strike a deal with China is neither right nor wrong, but the prime minister likely had to weigh several pros and cons.

"All in all it's about what's going to be the biggest bang for a trade agreement," Stephenson said.

"It might anger some premiers and might make others happy, but on balance, where will they fall? These are interesting choices," she said.

"From my point of view, sitting back and watching is fascinating."

While at least one Trump administration official has implied that Canada will regret cutting an EV deal with China, the president himself has shown a willingness to bring Chinese automakers into the U.S.

During a Tuesday meeting at the Detroit Economic Club, Trump reportedly reiterated his fondness for tariffs. But he also said he'd be open to Chinese companies building plants in U.S. Towns — as long as they create jobs for Americans.

"If they want to come in and build a plant and hire you and hire your friends and your neighbours, that's great, I love that," Trump said during his remarks. "Let China come in, let Japan come in."

Ben Shingler

I'm Ben Shingler, a reporter based in Montreal.

This morning, the leader of the separatist Parti Québécois, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, gave his first news conference since Quebec Premier François Legault announced his resignation earlier this week. And Plamondon isn't a fan of Carney's deal with China. He said the priority should be maintaining strong ties with the United States, even if it means not having access to cheap EVs.

"An independent Quebec would have a very different stance on China, because our priority would be to serve our regional economic and security interests way before trying that kind of tactic," he said. He added that China "has been interfering with our democracy."

Plamondon's party is leading the polls and has promised to hold a referendum on Quebec independence if they form government.

Canada's relationship with China 'more predictable' than relationship with U.S., PM says

Prime Minister Mark Carney, speaking to reporters in Beijing on Friday after making a preliminary deal with China on a range of issues, said Canada’s relationship with the U.S. Is 'more multi-faceted' and much deeper than Canada's relationship with China — but noted that ties with China have become more predictable in recent months.

Canadian and Chinese journalists packed tightly together in the cold at Carney's news conference in one of the city's famous parks, known as the "Temple of the Sun."

The New York Times' Canada bureau chief, Matina Stevis-Gridneff, picked up on a comment Industry Minister Mélanie Joly made to us during a scrum on Thursday.

Joly said in French that the conversations with China have been happening in a more predictable and stable way, compared to with other countries "like our neighbour."

Stevis-Gridneff asked Carney if it's fair for him to conclude China is a more predictable and reliable partner today than the U.S.

Carney started his response by saying he would answer "with respect to the relations with China." He said during talks in Beijing, Canada and China had "candid" conversations about where they could co-operate and where they had differences of opinion, which leads to a "more predictable and effective relationship."

But by the end of his answer, Carney said he would make one comparison. He called Canada's relationship with the U.S. "much more multifaceted, much deeper, much broader than it is with China."

"But yes, in terms of the way that our relationship has progressed in recent months with China, it is more, it is more predictable and you see results coming from that," he said.

Hi, I'm John Mazerolle, curator of today's live page.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew, who is at a Winnipeg summit on artificial intelligence in education, is expected to answer questions about the Canada-China deal that will lower duties on Canadian canola.

You can watch the live video above.

I'm Kyle Bakx, a business journalist in Calgary.

So far, canola prices are up only a few dollars, suggesting the markets aren't overly impressed by the new trade deal.

Even with China lowering the tariff on canola, it's still not clear how much of an impact it will have on Canadian exports.

Canola prices changing by a few dollars is pretty modest and within normal day-to-day trading, says Jon Driedger, an analyst with LeftField Commodity Research in Grunthal, Man.

"If the market viewed this as substantially positive, we'd probably be up $20, $25 or $30 a tonne," Driedger says. "If the market thought we opened the spigots to having a wave of canola moving unimpeded to China, I think we'd see more of an aggressive move [with canola prices]."

2025 was a relatively big canola crop, and there has been a storage backlog this winter in Western Canada with the Chinese tariffs in place.

U.S. Officials are already signalling that they're none too pleased with the deal. According to Reuters, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer called the move "problematic" and said Canada may come to regret its decision.

The deal signals a break from Canada's past co-operation with the U.S. For example, when Canada slapped 100 per cent tariffs on Chinese EVs in 2024, it did so in tandem with former U.S. President Joe Biden's administration.

Still, the "gamble" could pay off, said Laura Stephenson, a political science professor at Western University in London, Ont.

But there may be a lot to gain from establishing new partnerships, according to Stephenson, something she says Carney might be banking on, especially as U.S. Relations are increasingly "unpredictable" and "volatile."

"Maybe Carney is signalling to other countries that Canada is open for business," she said. "It's a strong signal. It might anger the U.S., but the likelihood of a deal with the U.S. Being in our favour is also uncertain."

Thus, there are many directions all of this could go, she said.

"It's an interesting gamble," Stephenson said. "It's a gamble someone would take when they're thinking about achieving a goal — and that goal is to get some stability for the Canadian economy."

The union that represents fishery workers in Newfoundland and Labrador said it welcomed the (for now, short-term) removal of tariffs on Canadian seafood exports to China.

"Any reduction in trade barriers is positive news for fish harvesters and plant workers, particularly given the impacts recent tariffs have had on coastal communities," a representative for the Fish, Food & Allied Workers union FFAW-Unifor shared in a statement.

"However, the announcement by the federal government currently refers only to lobster and snow crab. FFAW is seeking clarity on whether other species will be included, particularly sea cucumber, which has been hit especially hard in Newfoundland and Labrador."

Ontario Premier Doug Ford made his concerns with the Canada-China deal clear in a post on social media this morning. During a later scrum with reporters, he ripped into the arrangement and criticized Carney for not consulting with automakers beforehand.

"We're letting China into a market that's going to have lower tariffs than our largest market, the U.S., and I don't think that's going to go over too well with President Trump," Ford said.

"It's going to hurt every single auto manufacturer, every single supply chain that has anything to do with the auto sector. This was not thought of properly, it wasn't consulted, it was a knee-jerk reaction as far as I'm concerned, and this is going to be a big, big problem."

Ford also said that he was worried about Chinese EVs from a national security standpoint. The federal government spoke of similar considerations in the past.

"I'll be very honest: I don't trust what the Chinese put in these cars. And I'm wondering if the Americans would allow them to integrate their social media and the internet on these cars? The answer is no," he said.

---

---