Prime Minister Justin Trudeau paid tribute to Chinese President Xi Jinping as he posed for a family photo at the APEC Summit in San Francisco, California on November 16th.Adrian Wilde/Canadian Press
A group representing many of Canada’s largest employers says it’s concerning that Ottawa remains excluded from U.S.-led efforts to expand economic cooperation among Indo-Pacific allies and partners as a counterweight to China. said.
Talks between Washington and 13 other Indo-Pacific countries led to a partial agreement announced Thursday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in San Francisco, attended by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), which includes India, Japan, South Korea and Australia, on Thursday announced cooperation on clean energy and anti-corruption.
Negotiations will begin in May 2022 without Canada, with Ottawa expressing interest in joining last fall.
Goldie Heider, president of the Business Council of Canada, who was in San Francisco for the APEC summit, said the fact that Canada has not yet been invited to join IPEF is concerning. His council represents 170 chief executives whose companies account for 50 per cent of Canada’s annual economic output.
“Canada’s standing in the world is directly proportional to how America perceives Canada. When we see America taking us seriously, other countries take us seriously as well. ” said Haider. “So being left behind hurts us.”
Canada is aware of several important developments in the Indo-Pacific region, including the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (known as the Quad) between India, Japan, Australia, and the United States, and AUKUS, a defense agreement involving Australia and the United Kingdom. is left behind. And the United States.
Haider said Australia appears to be ahead of Canada when it comes to security.
“Are Australia being taken more seriously in defense and so on? I think the evidence speaks for itself. Yes, it is,” he said.
He acknowledged that Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly had “fought hard” to gain access to IPEF.
“At least for now there is an expression of interest from Canada, but it won’t be addressed anytime soon. It means we won’t be able to have our voices heard as IPEF takes shape.”
Prime Minister Trudeau’s APEC visit was aimed at showing Canada is serious about its relationship with Southeast Asia.
Haider said it’s not just trade that’s at issue, but the relationship between Canada and the United States.
IPEF will lead to an alliance between member states. “A strategic partnership is forming,” he said.
U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday touted IPEF’s efforts in a speech at APEC, calling it “a response to pandemics, vulnerable supply chains, climate change, natural disasters, and other challenges that can have significant economic impacts.” The partnership is dedicated to “addressing urgent issues that we have learned are relevant.”
He called the progress made to date “concrete commitments negotiated in record time and delivering meaningful results: increasing the resilience of supply chains, accelerating the transition to clean energy, and combating corruption.” It will bring meaningful results.”
IPEF member countries also announced the launch of continued efforts to strengthen critical mineral supply chains between member countries. Critical minerals such as lithium and cobalt are essential to emerging technologies. Ottawa has big ambitions in clean technology, and Prime Minister Trudeau wants Canada to become a “world leader” in critical minerals.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told reporters in San Francisco on Thursday that the IPEF Clean Energy Agreement creates a pathway to further increase private investment in IPEF member countries and accelerate the transition to low-carbon energy sources.
A separate group of private companies and non-profit organizations will focus on mobilizing climate change investments in IPEF member countries, he said. The group’s steering committee includes CEOs and partners from Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Company, Rock Creek, Global Infrastructure Partners, and the Rockefeller Foundation.
Ian MacKay, Canada’s ambassador to Japan and special envoy for the Indo-Pacific, downplayed Canada’s absence from IPEF negotiations, saying Ottawa is part of a separate agreement, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) trade agreement. He pointed out that there is. “I think there was a recognition that we were already in this area,” he told reporters in San Francisco.
He did not mention the fact that more than half of the countries participating in IPEF negotiations are already members of the CPTPP, including Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei.
Mr. McKay said he had “full confidence” that Canada would be the first member of IPEF once it begins accepting new members.
Carlo Dade, director of the Canada West Foundation Trade and Investment Center, said the U.S.-led IPEF talks will match, if not exceed, the market access Ottawa gained through the CPTPP agreement that went into effect in 2018.
“We have substantial trade agreements, including lower tariffs, with the most important countries in the Indo-Pacific,” Dade said.
“IPEF is not a true trade agreement,” he said, noting that the agreement does not provide tariff reductions or market access, and questions remain about the extent to which agreements, rather than treaties, are binding. .
“The only reason I’m there is in case something serious happens.”
Separately, International Trade Minister Mary Ng responded to a question about when Canada would resume trade talks with India, which Ottawa shelved in September. He said the investigation must be completed first.
“Canada’s focus at this point is to proceed with the investigation,” he told reporters in San Francisco.
Relations between Canada and India have deteriorated since Prime Minister Trudeau publicly accused India in June 2023 of being behind the murder of Mr. Nijjar, a British Columbian who advocated the creation of an independent Sikh state called Khalistan in India. is extremely cold. Punjab region.
After Trudeau’s accusations, India unilaterally revoked the diplomatic immunity of 41 Canadian diplomats based in the South Asian country and forced them to leave.
India’s special envoy to Canada recently told the Globe and Mail that New Delhi wants to return to the trade deal negotiation table.
According to a report by Reuters